Darcy Maria Lewis-Stark
by maipigen
Summary: There was a reason that Tony Stark was a mess, he knew that; hell, the entire world knew the reason, but fortunately for him, it - she - wasn't talked about often anymore. At least, not in his presence. Be advised, it's short chapters.
1. The Reason

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything Marvel, only this plotline. - A/N :Yeah, well...I wanted to tackle something entirely different.**

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_A/N: First things first:_  
_I'm not a comc book fan, since in my country they're sooo hard to get to, but I know a little. That said, I'm gonna focus on the movie(s) verse that has been set up._  
_I've fiddled a bit with the timeline and such so forgive any illogical time issues, please. They're intentional for this to work._  
_I'm not a native English speaker so there's bound to be grammar issues. I've read through it several times and will always do so before posting, but please keep in mind that I'm not perfect and let me know if there's any glaring mistakes, please. Aaand, this is my first ever attempt at writing in the Marvel Verse, so hopefully it won't suck monkeyballs - be nice, be constructive so I can better my skills and if that's impossible - do like a banana and split. Okay? Thanksies. Now, let's get this show on the road, I will be hiding in my bunker, shivering with fear and nerves. Enjoy!_

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**1\. The Reason**

There was a reason that Tony Stark was a mess, he knew that; hell, the entire _world_ knew the reason, but fortunately for him, it wasn't talked about often. At least, not in his presence.

It had been a while since he'd heard her name, the whispers that once followed him wherever he went, subsequently making him even more of a mess, were hushed these days.

He'd allowed himself to not think about it that night, but apparently he was due for another public incident. It _had_ been a while since the last one. Halfway through the evening, he froze when one of the mayor's guests had the audacity to talk about it – about _her_\- where he could hear it.

It was only Pepper and Obie's hands on his shoulders that stopped Tony from verbally reacting and a minute later, he was sitting in the nearest coat-closet, gasping for air and moaning like an injured animal in the grips of his memories.

The pain he exuded tore at his assistant'a heart, who rarely saw this side of her boss. Obadiah Stane had already left to do damage control and prevent any of the incident from reaching the press.

"Tony…" Pepper whispered, crouching awkwardly next to him in her heels. He shook his head, brushing off her comfort and she knew that right now, she couldn't help him. No one could, but the reason for his pain in the first place and that was impossible.

"I'll make sure no one comes near here," Pepper promised and left the devastated and panicking billionaire alone.

Tony closed his eyes harshly, trying to block out everything even as her name rang through his mind like a tornado, twisting everything out in the open with a merciless gush that left nothing hidden.

_Darcy_…

**0o0o0**

**TBC...**


	2. The Surprise

**DISCLAIMER IS IN CHAPTER 1**

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_A/N Well, since I'm writing short chapters, I figured I needed to give up one more to make anyone interested in more. Hopefully my tactic worked. If not, I apologize but it's too late now so stop moping :) _ _I'll return to the hidden bunker now *whimper*_

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**2\. The Surprise**

Darcy Maria Lewis-Stark was a surprise to _everyone_, but to be fair, Darcy's mother hadn't exactly expected anything to happen after her weekend with Tony Stark, especially considering that he was wearing a condom every time without fail and she herself was damn near religious with her birth control.

A month after Susanna Lewis' wild weekend, she bit the proverbial bullet and somehow managed to bully her way in to see Tony in his private home. What followed could only be described as a _loud_ conversation with a lot of hurtful words thrown viciously from both parties that ended in a rabid round of sex that, years later, Tony ruefully revealed was the moment he _knew_ that he was falling in love with Susanna. It was because, as he said, "she could keep up with him."

The next few months flew by, and the world speculated wildly about the obviously pregnant woman next to Tony Stark at all times, which ended up with them inviting a select few members of the press to their informal wedding party when Susanna Stark nee Lewis was eight months pregnant.

The picture of them beaming at each other, Susanna proving her eclectic taste with her brightly colored asymmetrical hem halter dress that she used as a wedding dress. Tony with his suit and matching tie and their intwined hands on her big belly was an instant favorite all over the world, and Tony carried a copy of it in his wallet even when he was kidnapped in Afghanistan years later.

For a while everything was _perfect_, and Tony who'd been spiraling a little after his parents untimely deaths began to get his act together, and he and Susanna were eagerly awaiting the arrival of their little girl.

Only, Susanna never got a chance to hold her daughter, bleeding out from an unexpected complication before anything could be done to save her and left Tony with a newborn daughter and a whole new set of grief to handle.

To honor his late wife, Tony named her after Susanna's favorite book even though he'd mocked her for the suggestion only the night before her death and hyphenated her last name as a way to link her to her mother. Then, to be fair to his own mother, Tony gave his child his mother's name as a middle-name because Maria would have loved her just as much as he did.

Thus Darcy Maria Lewis-Stark arrived to the world.

**0o0o0**

**TBC**...


	3. The Help

**Disclaimer is in chapter one.**

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_A/N Seems like a few people are reading, so thanks for that ;)_

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**3\. The Help**

Tony Stark was _brilliant_. A genius that few had hopes to reach in terms of pure intelligence really.

That didn't stop him from knowing absolutely jack shit about parenting. His own parents hadn't exactly set up great parameters for him to follow. One was too busy building an empire and searching for a dead hero lost in ice and another was too sad and bitter about that to give their only child all the boundaries and raising he needed.

In the end, Tony did what he could, but little Darcy needed more than he knew to give without someone helping him remember all the nitty gritty details. His best friend, Rhodey wasn't much help, bachelor that he was, but the two young men did their best until one day when Rhodey was called away for a mission and Tony somehow misplaced his child in the humongous mansion, blew the metaphorical gasket and all but burned the place down in his desperation to find her.

In the end, it turned out, she was peacefully sleeping in his workshop. She was carefully guarded by DUM-E and Butterfingers just as he'd ordered two hours earlier, when Tony stumbled in with sooth on his face, rips in his clothes and tears in his eyes and only then did he remember that he'd put her in her custom-made cradle in the corner so he could fiddle a bit with his newest idea, called J.A.R.V.I.S.

After the renovations had been completed to everyone's satisfaction, Obie stepped in and that was when Pepper came into the little family's lives.

Virginia Potts was a _legend_ from the moment she stepped into Tony's house in Malibu with her impeccable sense of style and immediate softening of the eyes at the sight of the six month old baby gurgling happily in his arms. When Darcy was introduced to the tall red-head, she unceremoniously spit up on Pepper's expensive suit, which only garnered a cooing sound and a soft, "I know a perfect recipe for baby-food that my grandmother has passed on to me, Mr. Stark."

After that day, Pepper was welcomed into the small group of people that Tony trusted around his child.

**0o0o0**

**TBC**...


	4. The Birthdays

**Diclaimer is in chapter one.**

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_A/N: Aaaand, here's the second bit for today. Remember the thing in the first chappie about the timeline? Well, I try to explain it here._  
_I actually like this one, so be gentle if you happen to don't ;) Enjoy! *runs to hide for the day in freshly fortified hidden bunker, just in case*_

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**4\. The Birthdays**

Darcy was _brilliant_, her IQ measured in the top percentile of her age group.

She was beautiful, which wasn't surprising since Susanna and Tony _were_ two attractive people themselves. She was happy, loud and incredibly eager to make people laugh.

Darcy was too young to stop her kidnappers from taking her despite her great intelligence. She was only two years old. All she managed was ripping off a piece of her kidnapper's clothes and that wasn't enough to lead her daddy to her.

Darcy was three years old when she was officially declared dead due to some DNA evidence on a small corpse, and Tony gave up all hope of finding her.

When Darcy would've been four, Tony was admitted to the hospital with his first drug overdose.

At Darcy's sixth birthday, Tony was hosting a grand party in New York. He was sitting in his locked hotel room with two women he'd fucked into exhausted unconsciousness, and he didn't even know them by name. He was staring unblinkingly into the barrel of a gun that Rhodey ended up wrestling from him later in the evening when he came looking for his friend with a bad feeling in his gut.

The week before Darcy would've turned eight, Tony was hiding in a coat-closet fighting off a panic attack at the mere _mention_ of her existence. Two weeks later, Obie convinced him to go to Afghanistan to present their newest completed jewel, the Jericho.

On Darcy's tenth birthday, Tony was too busy crafting a new element to remember, only to bend over and vomit with guilt and sorrow when he realized the date two weeks later, sitting next to Pepper and Rhodey in the courtroom where Justin Hammer stood trial.

Darcy's next birthday was spent by her meticulously tended to grave next to her mother. Tony arrived, in his Iron Man suit, and didn't move until the sun set where he flew back to the tower in New York that he was putting his finishing touches on. He was going to celebrate its completion with his girlfriend, Pepper.

One week after she would've turned twelve, Darcy came back to _life_.

**0o0o0**

**TBC**...


	5. The Tantrums

**Disclaimer is in chapter one.**

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_A/N: Soooo, this is probably not gonna be everyone's cup of tea, but I like to make sure everyone reading this knows just how screwed up Tony is. Enjoy!_

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**5\. The Tantrums**

The week before a certain yearly date, the team of Avengers began to notice changes in their resident joker's behavior. Tony turned quiet, sullen and downright angry, ignoring Fury's none too polite commands to deliver paperwork and the like. He ignored Steve's disappointed and judgmental looks when he blew off team-building exercises. Natasha and Clint were ignored when they tried goading him into losing his temper. Bruce was ignored, when he tried getting Tony into the lab to work and Thor would probably have been ignored too, but he was in Asgard.

Finally, the team got sick of his attitude and grew snide and disdainful whenever he was around. It came to a head one week later, when Tony came shuffling out into the communial kitchen and made his way to the coffee machine. Steve was standing with his own cup of coffee, nodding sagely to something that Clint muttered. Then he took it a step further and grabbed his newspaper from the counter. He pointed to a section on the third page that Clint nodded eagerly at, sending a dark glare in Tony's direction.

Feeling particularly testy that day, Tony couldn't ignore them as he'd done so expertly all week and he turned his head to stare at them head on. Natasha, who had been sitting mutely next to Clint, straightened up at the expression in his eyes. Bruce distanced himself, not willing to risk losing his temper. Clint and Steve looked almost eager at the reaction, only to more or less growl when Tony finally opened his mouth.

"I don't have patience for your little-women-gossiping and disapproval today. I'm having a bad day."

Putting on his emotionless mask, Clint raised a brow and nodded with his chin at a glaring Steve. "World War Two Veteran living in the future without _any_ of his age group around. Mindraped spy that _killed_ several of his colleagues." He pointed at Natasha and then Bruce as he added coldly, "Child killer _brainwashed_ by an evil organization. Giant green rage _monster_." Clint smiled with anger simmering in his eyes as he looked up at the immobile Tony and finished his point. "Billionaire, self-proclaimed playboy, philanthropist. You don't even know what a bad day _is_, Tony so stop acting like a spoiled brat with a tantrum for once and realize that you have suffered the least out of all of us here."

Unbeknownst to Clint, Steve and Natasha, Bruce was biting his lip with worry. Unlike the others, he had been living a normal life during the time of Tony's marriage, not undercover somewhere or frozen in ice and he remembered the pictures of a little beautiful brown-haired girl splattered all over the news ten years earlier and knew that Clint had _no_ idea what he was talking about.

Before he could intervene or even do anything really, Tony broke into a maniacal laugh that seemed to freeze the trio in front of him. It was a sound that they'd never heard from the joking man in front of them. The laugh turned hoarse, and almost sounded like a choked off sob. Abruptly, Tony straightened up and stared Clint dead in the eyes for a long uncomfortable minute before he turned and gave both Steve and Natasha the same treatment. "I'm gonna go down to my workshop and fiddle with something more important than the three of you and when this immature, spoiled brat returns all of you better be gone from this tower _or_ I will make damn sure none of you are able to without the aid of a seasoned medical professional."

**0o0o0**

There was a long silence full of disbelief after the billionaire quietly left the kitchen. Then Clint slammed his hand down on the counter with an angry curse. Natasha rubbed his shoulder, still looking in the direction where Tony had vanished. Steve stood with his jaw open, shocked at the way things had so quickly turned on them.

"D-Did he just kick us out?" Steve finally managed to say, sitting down on the stool next to a still cursing Clint. "Can he do that?"

"Technically it's his tower," Natasha pointed out, a delicate frown marring her features.

"That may be so," Clint replied angrily, "but Fury won't let him do that, he's not entitled to act like that. He just proves my point, he's gone crazy."

"He didn't mean it," Natasha decided, eyeing the empty doorway once more. "Like you said, it was just a temper tantrum. He'll come back and apologize later."

"Sirs, Ma'am," JARVIS's refined voice suddenly sounded all around them. They all looked up at the ceiling in response, only to gasp with outrage when he continued smoothly, "I've taken the liberty of sending housing suggestions to your phones and if you so desire, I shall contact a moving company for your needs."

"Housing suggestions?" Steve mouthed while Natasha almost lost her calm expression by raising both eyebrows in shock. Clint cursed again and barked out a mocking laughter, "_See_, he's totally overreacting. What an asshole."

"No, to be honest, you were kind of being the assholes," Bruce's softly pointed out and the other three Avengers looked at him as if they'd completely forgotten his presence.

"What the hell are you even talking about?" Clint jumped to his feet, followed by Steve, who was beginning to lose the shocked expression to anger. Natasha remained seated, but her gaze did promise severe retribution if the scientist didn't explain as soon as humanly possible.

In the end, Bruce didn't explain. In fact he only said one word and left with a small shrug. Clint paled and unceremoniously slammed his head down on the counter with a muffled curse, Natasha as well turned a shade paler and didn't move a muscle as her mind instantly began to remember the more serious parts of Tony's history and castigate her for forgetting in the first place. Steve frowned with confusion, eyeing his two friends closely.

"What or who is _Darcy_?"

**0o0o0**

**TBC...**


	6. The Take-Back

**Disclaimer is in chapter one.**

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_A/N: Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoy :)_

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**6\. The Take-back**

A few days later, after the incident in the kitchen, Tony returned from his workshop. He'd gotten entirely caught up with a new project. No, that was a lie. It was more along the line of a continued yearly project that he only returned to once a year around his daughter's birthday.

Every year Tony built his little girl a gift as if she was still around to squeal with joy at the sparkling wrapping paper and the contents within. The rarely heard from rational part of Tony knew that he was wasting his time, that there was literally tons of other waiting projects that he should devote his time on, but try as he might, he couldn't make himself stop or even throw the damn presents out. All ten of them were carefully kept in a hidden section of his workshop that only he knew of.

So busy had he been with his newest design for his child that Tony was completely shocked to notice the entirety of his team all but camping out in the hallway leading to his floor of private labs. "Whoa," Tony jumped inelegantly over Steve's massive legs where he lay snoring loudly with his head in Natasha's lap. The red-headed spy was eyeing him with no emotion on her face whatsoever, and Tony scrambled backwards with no little fear of her somehow trying to kill him with her mind.

"Not that I don't like a good team-exercise, in fact group sleeps are kinda my thing –did I ever tell you about the time I had a _lovely_ visit from this female volleyball team, okay not important – my point is, if you all wanted to sleep together, I have a big bed." He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively and grinned.

"So you're you again." Natasha said tonelessly, adding a second later with a deadpan tone, "How nice."

Tony kept the grin on his face and didn't comment, too busy cataloging the other people lying more or less asleep on his floor. Bruce was sitting opposite Natasha, his bespectacled face leaned forward with his chin on his chest and he looked about as tired as Tony suddenly felt. Next to him sat Clint, like Natasha, he too was awake but he didn't meet Tony's gaze as his hands were busy whittling something or other.

"Did I know he could do that?" Tony asked nobody and turned his attention to the most important of the people present: Pepper. She was sitting in an awkward pose right next to his glassdoors and for the life of him, he had no idea why a) he hadn't noticed her tall frame until now and b) why she hadn't used her override codes to enter his workshop.

Finally Tony's exhausted mind caught up to him and he glanced back at his team. "Why are you even here?" He slowly began making his way over to his girlfriend, intent on getting her to bed. "You've got rooms with actual beds and it can't be comfortable staying on the floor for longer than absolutely necessary."

"You kicked us out," Clint muttered and Tony frowned. Tony looked like he actually tried to remember it, but then shrugged and muttered something about simply being too tired to bother. His usual curiosity along with his disbelief burned brightly in his red-rimmed eyes and he looked up at the nearest camera to speak with JARVIS. "Jay, what's Birdman talking about?"

"Sir," JARVIS' tone was a tad apologetic, and it seemed to confuse Tony even more, "Three days and 12 hours ago, you told your fellow Avengers team to vacate the tower before your return. Miss Potts intervened mid-move and ever since their _discussion_ the team has – barring other obligations – kept vigil in the hallway outside your preferred workshop."

"Huh." Tony rubbed his chin, absentmindedly reminding himself that he really needed a good shave. He smelled his armpit and grimaced, a shower wouldn't go amiss either.

"That's all you have to say?" Natasha asked, having somehow managed to untangle herself from the sleeping American icon and stepping closer to him while he was distracted. "We've tried getting your attention, but you ignored us for days."

"Soundproof rooms," Tony pointed out and hurried along when it looked like the spy wanted to say more, "and I darkened my end of the glass. You may have been able to see me, but I couldn't see anything. Sorry."

"No, we're sorry." Clint had risen as well and flanked his partner's side with a serious look in his eyes as he finally met Tony's. A fresh round of anger rushed through every fiber of Tony's being, but excellent actor that he was, his face twisted into a confused grin and let the anger burn through him.

"Okay. Apology accepted, let's never speak of it again or whatever. I'm hungry, anyone else hungry? Go on, I'm just gonna wake up Pep and convince her that we need to eat before hitting the sack so she won't end up hitting _my_ sa—"

"_Thank_ you, Stark, we get the picture," Natasha interrupted and grabbed a now slightly relieved-looking Clint and disappeared within a blink of an eye. Steve, who'd awoken in the meantime, nodded seriously at Tony and left without saying anything.

Tony looked down at Bruce, who suddenly lifted his head and sent him a tired smile. "About time you came up for air. Another few hours and I would've had to ask the Other Guy for help."

"You're overreacting, Brucie," Tony smiled widely, and gestured in the direction the others had gone. "Go on, Big Guy, like I said I just need a minute with Pepper and I'll join you for some much needed grub."

Bruce got to his feet, eyes never leaving Tony's. For a long while nothing was said, but then the scientist smiled a little and shrugged awkwardly. "It's okay to miss her, Tony. The others didn't know or forgot, and they're sorry. If you ever want to talk about…" He trailed off at the frozen smile on his friend's face and nodded when Tony didn't respond. "Pepper was worried about you; she really tore into Clint when JARVIS told her what happened."

Tony didn't react and with a sigh, Bruce left as well. Tony slumped up against the nearest wall, fighting off the sting in his eyes. He'd sworn years ago to never cry again and he was still trying to follow that oath.

He'd overreacted to Clint's taunts, and he'd known it the second he'd gotten a moment to himself again. To be fair, Tony had never been good at handling emotions, let alone his own and they always flared up this time of year. The memories of Susanna, and Darcy caused him to lose the ability to sleep, eat or even think properly and that combo always made him a little unstable. Being too proud to actually apologize, since the others had crossed the line in Tony's mind, he told JARVIS to get Pepper to stop them from leaving before it was too late and then began his latest invention slash gift to his little girl and didn't return to the present until apparently days had passed.

_Darcy_…Even thinking her name put the promise to not cry to the test, but with one last effort, he managed and he turned to wake Pepper.

**0o0o0**

**TBC...**


	7. The Rescue

**Disclaimer is in chapter one.**

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_A/N: Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoy :)_

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**1\. The Rescue**

It was a rainy day and Pepper was not exactly happy about it. Normally, she didn't care about the weather, but that day she had had a very important meeting across town from the Tower and the bad weather caused traffic jams on her way back home to a promised, and much needed, foot-rub from Tony.

He was the _king_ of foot-rubs.

Finally, after having been stuck in her limo for close to an hour on an already long day, Pepper snapped and told Happy that she would walk the rest of the way. "Ma'am!" Happy jumped out of the car and gave her his suit jacket. "I wouldn't allow this if we weren't so close to the Tower, Miss Potts. Just please," he smiled his friendly smile that always made Pepper retaliate in kind, "take this so your pretty dress won't get ruined."

"Thank you, Happy." Pepper put on the jacket that was much too big for her and left without any further ado. She was very eager for her feet to land in Tony's lap without her damnable heels anywhere in sight.

So caught up in her fantasy of how long she would force her boyfriend to service her aching limbs was Pepper that she completely overlooked the tiny form dashing in front of her and pushing her backwards just as an angrily-yelling cab driver drove by her. Apparently, the CEO had been about to walk into the oncoming traffic.

Heart pounding with a mix of adrenaline and fear, Pepper looked down at her rescuer. It was a small child, a small, _very_ filthy and obviously starved girl; she amended after a further look.

"You gotta watch where you're going, Miss." The girl admonished, looking up at the much taller woman through greasy hair. The bright blue eyes hit Pepper straight in the chest, ever since Darcy, she'd had a weakness for blue eyes. Shaking off the memory of the little toddler that she'd loved like her own for too short a time, Pepper managed a grateful smile and kneeled in front of her savior.

"I'm sorry, I will be more careful in the future. Do you need help finding your mom and dad?" The girl shook her head, and took a cautious step backwards that told Pepper a lot in its simplicity.

"No, thanks, Lady. Just be more careful, okay?" She turned to leave, and before Pepper even realized her own intentions, she'd taken a gentle hold of the child's much too skinny arm. "Please, let me return the favor somehow. Do you want something to eat, I swear I'll let you go after that?"

The girl swallowed loudly, hesitating and it was obvious that Pepper was finally speaking her language. "I could eat."

**0o0o0**

**TBC.**..


	8. The Deal

**Disclaimer is in chapter one.**

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_A/N: Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoy :)_

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**8\. The Deal**

Half an hour later, found Pepper sitting in the nearest McDonald she could find, watching the tiny slip of a girl all but inhale massive amounts of food. It wasn't her usual place to dine but she had figured, if nothing else, the calories would do some good on the much too skinny girl. That said, she really _was_ shoveling the food down her throat.

"You're going to get sick if you don't slow down, Sweetie."

The girl scowled and blushed simultaneously and didn't respond verbally. She did however slow down…just a _little_ bit. It broke the CEO's heart to see the way the child hovered over her meal as if ready to defend it at a moment's notice. "I hope you know that if you can't finish it, we'll pack it for you so you can take it with you."

"Can't," the girl managed to say in-between bites, "if they see it, it'll get stolen from me anyhow."

Leaning backwards in an attempt of nonchalance, Pepper asked calmly, "Who's they?"

"Nobody. It's not exactly like we go by first name basis when I run into people." The girl shrugged and continued eating, breaking off to take a huge drink of her soda.

"So you're all alone?" Pepper knew she was pushing it, but for some reason found herself unable to care much. There was something about the girl that tugged at her heartstrings. "No one to miss you?" The girl froze for a second, before copying Pepper's carefully crafted nonchalance. Her eyes looked dark and cautious. For one insane minute, she was reminded of Tony whenever he was in 'serious-mode'.

"Look, Lady, I'm not interested in being propositioned by you _or_ your employer. I don't suck dicks for grub anymore, so if that's all thanks for dinner and goodbye."

Pepper's mind was reeling with the information the child had given away, and her mind settled into a decision before she even really knew it. Foregoing all nonchalance, she got to her feet and took a gentle hold of the retreating girl's bony shoulder and hurried to speak, when it looked like she was about to scream assault. "I'm sorry, I could've handled that better. I'm not used to children, and I swear there's nothing untoward about my interest in you or your life, I just find it sad."

The girl narrowed her eyes, but allowed Pepper to guide her back into her abandoned seat with a sigh. "I don't want yours or _anyone_ else's pity, so stop it. I get by just fine on my own."

"Oh, I am sure, but you're just a child and I can't _not_ acknowledge the fact that you shouldn't have the life you have."

Instead of gaining anything from the girl by her words, Pepper seemed to alienate her even more. She straightened up in her seat and leveled such a look on the CEO that it was clear her patience was running out. "I get by just fine."

Pepper nodded, knowing that she had a very thin line to wiggle on, but something in her wouldn't stop pressuring her to somehow get the girl to a better environment. _I'm going to try one more time_, the woman thought determinedly, _and if that doesn't work, I'll give her some money and try to let her leave._

Ignoring the part of her that knew that there was no way in _Hell_ she'd let the girl vanish on her, Pepper put on the most friendly smile she could muster. "I'm sorry, but let me just make you a deal. Hear me out and then you can decide what to do."

There was one tense moment, especially when the girl eyed the exit rather unsubtly, where Pepper thought she'd make a run for it, but then surprisingly the girl settled back in her seat with a polite expression on her face that made her look several years older. "I like deals."

Taking that as her cue, Pepper jumped in with her suggestion, making it up more or less on the fly in her inexplicable eagerness to gain the child's trust. "I work very much and so does my partner and his friends that live in our place. There's a lot of little things that we could use someone like you to help us with."

"Like what?" Clearly on top of being very cautious, the girl was very smart as well and didn't accept anything but the truth.

"Fetching things and stuff like that," Pepper knew she was in over her head, but soldiered on regardless with a dash of honesty at the end. "Come with me and I'll find you something to do, something that won't offend your pride and in return, I'll _guarantee_ you food on the table every day, clean clothes and maybe even a shower or two."

The girl bit her chapped lip worriedly, seeming to think it over carefully. Pepper barely dared to breathe and only exhaled with a half-laugh when the girl asked tentatively, "Can the shower be substituted for a bath? I like baths, I remember bath time from when I was real little."

Pepper smiled, and slowly reached her hand across the table, waiting until the girl's tiny hand copied the movement and then shook on it. "That's a deal, Little One."

**0o0o0**

**TBC**...


	9. The Arrival

**Disclaimer is in chapter one.**

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_A/N Sorry for the wait, had extra shifts at work and sadly since no one pays me for this, I ad to follow the money ;) Thanks to those precious few of you that took the time to actually review, it means the world to me :)_

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**9\. The Arrival**

The rest of the walk back to the tower hadn't been the longest that Pepper had ever walked, but it had felt like an eternity before the huge building was in front of her. Most of that had to do with the way people were looking at the tiny girl following closely next to her. Their eyes were almost all narrowed with suspicion as if the little slip of air was about to rob her or something.

The redhead in her wanted to scream and point out that she would have been either in the hospital receiving intensive care or said hospital's morgue if it hadn't been for the timely rescue the dirtied child had pulled off. Also, there was a tiny part of the former assistant that wondered whether or not, _she_ would've given the same eyes if she hadn't been in the middle of things.

While the CEO was deep in her thoughts, she failed to notice the way the girl at her side eyed everything with a carefully blank expression on her face, as if she too had noticed the stares and was doing her damndest not to let her feelings about it show. The clenching of her small hands did give her away though.

"Here we are, Little One," Pepper announced needlessly as she led the child toward the main entrance where a couple of security guards eyed them with a confused, yet wary look in their eyes. Fortunately, no one actually said anything and Pepper managed to lead the girl over to her private elevator and softly told JARVIS to take them to Tony and hers private apartment in the top of the tower. "Certainly, Miss," JARVIS' calm voice said and Pepper cursed herself when the girl jumped with fear in her eyes, looking around warily.

"Don't worry, Sweetie, that was the A.I. that runs the tower, he won't hurt you." Then, at the frown on the girl's face, Pepper explained, "An A.I. stands for Arteficial Intelligence and—"

"I know that it means," was all the girl muttered, and before Pepper could ask any more questions the elevator stopped and the doors opened to her home. Pushing her curiosity to the side for the moment, Pepper led the child out of the elevator and spent the next few minutes on a casual tour of the place.

"This will be your room," she finished and opened the door to one of the generic guest rooms that was in the apartment.

"Cool," the girl said, trying and failing to not show any of her awe at the big space. A queen bed took up a lot of the space, but there was room enough for a plasma TV on the wall, a desk and a chair along with a big closet. A door next to the closet led into a guest bathroom that had the tub that Pepper knew the girl wanted.

"There's a bath that way," Pepper pointed and added, "I'm gonna go and call my boyfriend to come meet you. He's away at the moment, but if you see a dark-haired man child with a moustache, don't be scared, he _is_ allowed to be here. I'll let you settle in and we'll talk a little later, okay, Honey?"

"Sure." The girl murmured, but then straightened up, in an attempt to look taller. "You don't have to use cutesy names for me, I'm too old for that. You can call me Daria."

Pepper's heart almost broke at the flat tone in the girl's – _Daria_'_s_ – voice. To think she was too old when she was probably nothing more than ten years old was horrible to think about. She took care to nod seriously, and then went out to call Tony and at the same time ask JARVIS to order some new clothes for Daria.

An hour later, Pepper hadn't heard anything from the guestroom and decided to go look for herself. When she entered the room, her heart began thumping wildly when she couldn't see Daria anywhere. The bathroom was still unused and there was no sign of her anywhere.

"Miss Potts," JARVIS' suddenly said, startling Pepper out of her frantic worry, "I believe you'll find Miss Daria in the closet. She entered there mere minutes after you left."

"Thank you, JARVIS," Pepper said and carefully opened the closet door as to not scare her new charge needlessly. What she saw, brought tears to her eyes.

In front of her, in the deepest corner of the empty closet, Daria was sitting curled in on herself as much as possible on the new carpet-less ne floor. Knees up to her face and tiny arms wrapped around them. Her long dark hair shielding her face as she hid from the new world she'd unexpectedly found herself in.

It took a moment before Pepper realized that Daria was actually sleeping. "Oh, Honey," she whispered and softly closed the closet door and then made her way back out into the main living room to give the girl some privacy. The sight of the child hiding would haunt her forever.

"Hopefully Tony can reach her better than I can," Pepper mumbled and set about ordering several things that a girl might need.

**0o0o0 **

**TBC**…


	10. The Graveyard Shenanigans

**Disclaimer is in chapter one**

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_A/N last one for today - please enjoy :)_

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**10\. The Graveyard Shenanigans**

Tony Stark was a pretty mellow dude, if one asked him.

He could roll with most punches, and had in fact done just that over the years. There were only four people in the world that could unapologetically bring forth the part of Tony that he used a _lot_ of charm and distractions to hide.

Rhodey 'cause he was his best friend and had had to put up with a lot of crap from him over the years. Pepper 'cause she was his beloved, his life-coach; hell, she was the main reason he still managed to get out of bed in the morning. Susanna, 'cause she was his one and only wife, the one he truly deemed as his soulmate. Lastly, there was Darcy, 'cause she was _everything_.

Now, _two_ of those four people were being touched in a way that did just not fly with Tony.

When he first read the news – had them read to him by JARVIS, what_ever_ – that a group were running around and vandalizing graveyards, Tony had frowned and snarked a little about people not being raised right 'cause didn't those punks realize that they were ruining places that were left by the living to mourn, love and remember?

A few days later, not more than a few days after his little 'spat' with his fellow Avengers, JARVIS announced to Tony through text that a _very_ specific graveyard was now being targeted by the punks. Tony had been in the middle of a debriefing that was both excruciatingly boring and extremely important. After reading the text, the billionaire simply got up and left without comment.

Some hours later found Tony lying casually on the ground, his head resting on a gravestone while his empty Iron Man suit was carefully placed in a seated position over by the nearest tree. There was a small group of five individuals, no more than seventeen at the eldest, lying not too far away from him. They were hogtied and placed in the middle of the most unshaded area, enjoying the scorching hot California sun.

"Gotta say, they don't seem to be enjoying the nice weather at all. Too bad kids these days don't know how to chillax, right?" Tony said to seemingly no one and grinned evilly. He was eyeing said kids with a much more amused look in his eyes than when he'd first spotted them finishing up a massive spray-painting extravaganza as he flew in and landed right in front of them.

A familiar sound drew Tony's attention, and he glanced to the side and exhaled loudly in an annoyed sigh. "What took you so long, Cap? I'm afraid I've _hogged_ all the fun today." The bad joke didn't get the best reaction, Tony resented that 'cause his jokes, bad or not, were ten times better than other people's.

Recognizing the disappointed expression on his teammate's face, Tony shrugged defensively. "They were defacing this place, and according to JARVIS they've done it four times before in other places. I'm just teaching the youth of today to act more responsible, I mean, _you_ don't wanna condone their actions by helping them, do you, Cap?"

Steve rolled his eyes and placed his iconic shield back on his back. "Stark, it's things like this that make it very hard to honestly like you. What they are doing is obviously wrong and they will be punished accordingly by the police that I'll call in a minute. What you're doing is even worse, acting all righteous. Storming out of our meeting and worrying everyone enough that we even followed you to lend a hand is not the proper way to act. We were in the middle of a _very_ important… For God's sake, Tony, sit up, it's someone's _gravesite_ you're disrespecting!"

Tony sent Steve a smile that he vividly recalled as being similar to the one he'd sent earlier in the week when Clint and the rest of them had ignited his temper. For one second, Steve wanted to use some of his own temper to beat some sense in to Howard's unruly boy, but then Tony actually spoke and the urge was replaced by a sudden desire to smack himself silly for yet again jumping to conclusions.

"Yeah, it's _my_ gravesite. It's my wife's and the one _you're_ almost standing on is my kid's." Steve immediately jumped backwards a step. Tony's smile vanished as he continued coldly, "_No one_ touches my family, I don't give a flying fuck that they're dead, they're still under my protection, Steve and no meeting about evildoers and their shenanigans will ever stop me from making the same choice again."

There was a long moment of silence, full of growing tension and –from Steve's side – awkwardness as he stood there in his uniform and stared at the eccentric man on the ground with the sounds of whimpering teenagers in the background.

"Don't bother calling the cops;" Tony broke the silence with one of the fakest smiles that the first Avenger had ever laid his eyes on, "I've already informed them. They'll be here in a half an hour tops. I told them not to rush if they were busy, 'cause I'm nice like that. Now," Tony clapped his hands together with another false showing of amusement, "I was talking to my wife, so do you mind leaving? _Now_."

"Err…" Steve had no idea on how to solve the matter that his preconceived notions about Howard Stark's irresponsible son had landed him into, but fortunately for him, there was a sudden ringing sound coming from Stark's pocket and the billionaire's attention was directed toward what seemed to be a call from Pepper.

"Hold on a sec, Babe," Tony muttered and gestured for Steve to leave. "I'll be home before curfew, Capsicle, tell Daddy Fury not to ground me if he wants me to look at the newest designs for the new Helicarrier." And with that, Steve knew he would gain nothing by staying so he did as asked and left to go back to the jet where Natasha and Clint were waiting for news.

As he walked away, Steve heard the tail end of Tony's conversation with his girlfriend. "…get JARVIS to order things that'll spruce the room up. It's dull. Don't worry it's fine, give it a few days and we'll call social services to take her someplace better. I'll fly home as soon as I can to meet her…"

**0o0o0 **

**TBC**…

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_A/N Contrary to what it seems like, I don't hate Steve. I know I'm portraying him a little harshly, but in this timeline, it hasn't been that long since NY and Loki, so their friendship/whatever it was in the movie, hasn't fully developed yet and there's still some getting to know you's here, same with the rest of the gang :)_


	11. The Plan

**Disclaimer is in chapter one.**

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**11\. The Plan**

Daria was a smart kid, no, she was _brilliant_.

Who else at her age could go through what she'd done and still have enough cunning to make up plans on the fly?

When she'd spotted the tall, beautiful and very rich-looking woman almost walk straight into traffic, there'd been an eerie part of Daria that had acted instinctively. Something in her had all but screamed that she _had_ to help the woman, a strange sense of déjà vu overcoming her even further when she first locked eyes with the stranger.

In that moment, Daria was contemplating several ideas that eclipsed into one very special plan when the woman, Pepper, made a deal with her to come home with her.

Sure, when she'd been left alone to take a much needed bath, Daria had suddenly been overcome with nerves and sought out the safest space she could find to hide in. Big deal, she was _so_ gonna pretend it never happened anyhow.

When Daria woke up from her crouched position on the cool floor, she straightened herself out to her full –albeit not very big yet - height and slowly made her way out into the room that Pepper had gifted her. The cynic in her told Daria that she should take as many items she could find so she had something to sell before Pepper and her boyfriend kicked her out on her behind, but again, something bigger than her was telling her not to for some reason.

Shaking off the battling emotions inside of her, Daria focused on one _very_ important fact. She was starving, and Pepper had told her multiple times to come to her with any requests whenever she wanted, and she _really_ wanted.

Ignoring the beckoning siren call from the humongous bathtub in the bathroom, Daria finally decided to exit her room and locate the woman she now sort of worked for. _Be on your _best_ behavior_, Daria told herself as she twisted the door handle, _if you ruin this too quickly, your plan won't ever work. You need it to work!_

The plan was relatively simple really, but in Daria's mind it was _epic_ and told of her own self-proclaimed brilliance. She was gonna find someone, someone she didn't really know, or even remember. _They_ had said he was one of the richest men on the planet and a stupidly smart asshole.

Now that didn't exactly give her a lot to go on, since in her experience as a homeless kid, _all_ rich people were assholes, but as soon as she'd decided to go with Pepper, the plan had solidified itself firmly in her mind. Pepper was rich, and that meant she knew _other_ rich people. Rich people always hung out together and ignored those with less than them. Ergo, she was bound to run into the one she was looking for just by association.

Easy peasy, lemon sqeezy.

But... While she waited, Daria was gonna go finish her quest for food before she did anything else.

The little, filthy-looking girl was so caught up in her mental review of her glorious plan that she failed to notice the two people standing in the gigantic living-room area, eyeing her interestedly.

A second later, she _did_ notice however, when she stumbled into the one standing next to Pepper.

"Whoa there, kiddo." He chuckled and righted her before she fell completely to the carpeted floor. Daria looked up at the man and immediately, inexplicably, _everything_ inside of her seemed to freeze when their eyes met.

Who _was_ that guy?

**0o0o0 **

**TBC**…

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_A/N: *peeks out with a white flag in trembling hands*_  
_Yeah, so the mysterious Daria doesn't remember the one she's looking for... My evilness strikes again ;)_


	12. The Meeting

**Disclaimer is back in chapter one.**

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_A/N So sorry, illness got me delayed. Hope this will appease :D Also, extra big thanks for those precious few who took the time to review. Thank you!_

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**The Meeting**

The moment Tony laid eyes on the girl, he was in love. Not like _that_. He wasn't a perv, thank you very much.

No, the moment those blue-grey eyes of hers met his, Tony felt something deeply buried inside of him give a painful lurch as if awakening for the first time in a year (_a decade_, his mind pointed out wearily, but he pushed it back harshly). It didn't feel all that great to be honest, and he made a quick mental note to have JARVIS check him out at the earliest opportunity.

That damnable mind of his that never shut up, told him to stop getting all bent out of shape just 'cause the kid had the same color eyes as his baby-girl. Once again using all of his not-too-shabby ability to repress anything emotional, Tony refocused on the child in front of him.

The kid was probably one of the filthiest children he'd _ever_ seen. Her clothes were threadbare and dirtied by various splatters that he sincerely hoped was only dirt. The sad excuses for shoes that she wore, was taped together with what seemed to be duct tape and even that seemed to be failing its mission to keep the thin shoes in one piece. They offered no protection whatsoever. The worst part though, to Tony's observant eyes, was the scrapes and hints of scars that could be seen under all the dirt on the peeks of skin that he caught through the near see-through clothing.

Something inside of him rumbled with anger at the sight, and he promised himself that if he _ever_ found out who'd touched the child, they would see the part of him that had gone to Gulmira so long ago. Pepper cleared her throat and it occurred to the distracted billionaire that he'd been staring intensely at the frozen kid for way too long.

Copying his girlfriend's action, Tony coughed a little awkwardly before covering it all up with a charming smile. For some reason, he really wanted the kid to like him. "Welcome to our home, kiddo. Sorry the welcome wagon wasn't out when you came, but I'll rectify that sometime. Pepper make a note." He sent her a grin that seemed to only freeze the girl even more, and Tony's heart broke for her. That kind of skittishness wasn't normal, and he knew from Pepper that she'd seen way more of the darker side of life than a kid her age should ever have to.

_Trust me_, he thought out to the kid, trying to mentally send her the words that his ruined heart could never really verbalize,_ I won't hurt you._

Finally, very slowly, it seemed like his forced casualness and charming smiles were getting to the girl, and she straightened up and held out a hand. They all pretended not to see the trembling. "Thanks for letting me stay here, Sir," The girl said with a clear voice and a determined expression on her thin face that sent a shiver down Tony's spine as he was suddenly reminded of his late wife. "I know it was unexpected, but I promise that I'll work hard and won't get in the way."

"Relax kid," Tony expertly hid any of his unease with an even brighter smile. "Here in Casa de Stark, we like to have fun most of the time – Sure there's that little group of people I've invitd to live here, but they have their own floors and won't come up here unless invited. Anyway, I'm Tony and according to Pep here, you're Daria, right?"

The girl – Daria – nodded, unsubtly eyeing the part of the room that held the kitchen area and Tony decided to let the kid go for now. "There's food waiting for you over by the counter. We didn't know what you liked and you seem like you need a lot of food to grow out of that pipsqueak state you're in, so go nuts."

Daria vanished so quickly that Tony thought she might have had some mutant-powers or something, 'cause one minute she was standing right in front of him and the next, she was sitting on the edge of one of the kitchen stools and stuffing her tiny face with a groan of happiness that made him smile honestly for the first time since meeting her.

"Not bad for a first meet," Tony pointed out to Pepper, who was eyeing Daria with a very ferocious glint in her eye. Apparently, he wasn't the only one feeling a tad vengeful on behalf of the girl. Pepper shrugged and grabbed his hand, giving it a gentle squeeze before dragging him over to the kitchen to eat themselves.

Tony quickly grabbed a few condiments and made himself one of the only things he knew how to make well, a stellar chicken and bacon sandwich. Daria paused her eating to look at him curiously for a moment, and then, as if unable to stop herself, she asked why he left out the tomatoes 'cause most people liked that in their sandwiches.

Grinning and taking a big bit out of his sandwich, Tony answered, "First off, tomatoes are too indecisive for me. I mean, are they a fruit or a vegetable? Make up your mind. Secondly," he added after having chewed and swallowed noisily, "I'm allergic to tomatoes so couldn't eat 'em even if I wanted to, kiddo."

Daria smiled a small smile and then said something that made things subconsciously begin to click in Tony's mind. "You're not the only one, Sir. I'm allergic too."

Tony's eyes narrowed thoughtfully, but the suspicion barely formed in his mind before he cancelled it out, 'cause there was just _no_ way and the evidence had been foolproof. He'd made damn sure of that before giving up all hope. "Coolio oh, and don't call me Sir, that was my dad's thing and we were nothing alike."

Daria nodded mutely and just continued to eat in silence. Evidently, their brief moment of connection severed for now.

_Oh well,_ Tony thought with a mental shrug as he shared a rueful smile with a silently watching Pepper, _still not a bad first meet and greet_.

**0o0o0 **

**TBC…**


	13. The Fury

**Disclaimer is in chapter one.**

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_A/N Thanks for reading! And again, there's a special spot for those beloved few of you that take the time out of your busy lives to give a comment to me :D_

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**The Fury**

The third day after Tony met his newest houseguest, he, and everyone else present, got to see a whole other side to the timid child.

Not that it was all that many people really, since Tony and Pepper –mostly Pepper, the ever responsible one – had decided to lean Daria into meeting the rest of the Avengers team and the people affiliated with each Avenger. It was bound to be overwhelming for anyone, let alone a small, traumatized kid that had massive trust issues.

Anyway, everything happened when Tony was having breakfast with Pepper, Bruce and Daria. The latter two having only just met in an agreeable show of awkward cuteness that Tony decided to have JARVIS print pictures out of to keep forever and _ever_ 'cause he was nice like that.

Suddenly, JARVIS' cultured voice sounded, managing only, "Sir, I believe I'm being overwr—" before the main doors to the penthouse apartment barged open and Director Fury barreled in with his eye narrowed angrily and several loud curses on his lips.

"I've given you enough time to act like an ass, Stark!" Fury finally managed a full sentence when he reached the breakfast bar where they were all sitting, his eye centered on Tony in his anger. "I'm _sick_ and tired of you avoiding your responsibilities, if you can't man up and show up at the meetings I assign, then let someone more dependable use the Iron Man suit, I'm sick of—"

"The suit is _me_," Tony replied stonily, jaw clenching in an effort to maintain his calm so as not to frighten the child nearby.

"For fuck's sake, Stark! You need to do as you're _told_ before…Argh!"

Fury didn't finish his yelled sentence. Daria had slipped off her seat unnoticed by all, grabbed the first thing she saw and then proceeded to slip past all eyes until she slammed her weapon right into the screaming man's crotch.

Everyone sat frozen for a long second, while Daria stood over the downed Fury with a now cracked fruit bowl in her hands. "_Stop_ yelling at my friend or I will hit you again, Sir," she ordered with an eerie calm in her face. It was clear that she was very serious with her threat.

Evidently, Fury's fury dimmed a little when he realized that he'd been attacked by a slip of a girl and _not_ some evil mastermind intent on taking over the world.

"_That's_ Daria," Tony introduced proudly, fighting a losing battle to not break out into a much needed laughter at the stumped look on the super spy's face. Then, in the next moment, all of Tony's amusement vanished when Fury got to his feet and took one threatening step toward the now defensive-looking child.

"Don't move, Nick," Tony demanded and as if reading his thoughts, Daria ran to hide behind him as all of her earlier determination evaporated in the face of a truly angry Fury.

"But," Fury began, but wisely kept his mouth shut when he locked eyes with Tony.

"Next time you come by, _don't_ hack my A.I. and _don't_ yell at me in front of my friend here. Apparently she's a little protective of me. I feel the same way about _her_." Tony's eyes glinted with rarely seen rage as he drove his point home to a now blank-looking Fury. "I'll see you tomorrow."

Fury eyed first him, then Pepper, who was looking at the girl with concern, then he glanced at Bruce, who was looking a little greenish around the eyes and then lastly at Daria, who was standing stock-still behind Tony still. "Come by S.H.I.E.L.D. sometime, kid. You've got potential even though you _are_ a brat."

And then, just as quickly as he'd arrived, Fury left.

There was a long minute of silence before Pepper bustled into efficiency, smiled at Daria, and Bruce, kissed Tony goodbye and left to do her CEO'ing. Bruce hurried down to his labs, away from the drama he didn't need that early in the morning and Tony waited until he was alone with Daria to say anything.

His amusement was slowly trickling back, and he knew he'd treasure the memory of Nick Fury lying on the ground cupping his groin with an almost whimper forever. He managed to get his expression back to something a _little_ less gleeful and abruptly turned back to Daria to congratulate her for a job well done.

What he saw next, almost made Tony loose his breakfast. Daria was no longer standing behind him, seeking comfort and protection. No, instead, while he'd been reminiscing fondly, she'd gone to one corner of the room and curled into a little ball. She was shaking so bad that her fingers kept slipping from the tight grip she had them in around her legs. That wasn't the worst part to Tony, no, it was when he frowned with confusion and took one step toward her and she flinched backward, all but hitting her head on the wall in an attempt to hide even further as if she could somehow crawl into the wall itself.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I don't know why I did that, I won't do it again, _please_ don't send me away. I'll be a good girl, Sir. I'll do _anything_ you want. I'll even suck you if you want me to; I'm very good at it. I won't even bite _you_. I'm sorry, he was just so…I'm sorry, Sir, please. Please. _Please_."

Daria's frantic words narrowed down to that last repeated plea and Tony's heart broke all over again. Once again her words gave hints to some of the horrible things she had lived through in her short life, and he was immobile with shock. The sight of the trembling child was enough to finally bring him to action and he hurried to her side and gathered her in his arms easily even though she struggled a little at first.

"Shh," Tony soothed to the best of his limited abilities, "It's okay, and I'm not mad, Baby-Girl. Shh."

Something in his voice must have gotten through to her, because next thing he knew, Tony felt more than heard Daria break down in his arms. Her head was hidden in the crook of his neck and he could feel her warm tears slide down his skin and under his shirt. "It's okay, Baby-Girl, I'll take care of you," Tony's words became a mantra that he repeated over and over again, even after the child in his arms had long fallen asleep, resting peacefully for what seemed like the first time since she'd arrived.

One thing was blatantly clear to the billionaire as he walked his penthouse with Daria. Fury was gonna think a hit to the balls was a love-tap when Tony was through with him. It was his fault that Daria ended up weeping in the end, and like Tony had said, _she_ wasn't the only one that had a protective streak in her.

**0o0o0 **

**TBC… **


	14. The Good Fella

**Disclaimer is in chapter one.**

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_A/N Again, let me point out that I don't hate Steve...a lot...lol. This is how I see the insides of him being after his life. Enjoy!_

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**The Good Fella**

Steve Rogers was a pretty good fella; he didn't like to swear needlessly. He _was_ Captain America after all. He smiled and acted politely to any of his newfound fans that managed to scrounge up the courage to approach him whenever he was out and about. He liked animals, kids and drawing.

That said, Steve Rogers was not completely sane anymore. Every time he closed his eyes to sleep, nightmares of speeding trains, Bucky falling and more now battled with images of the Chitauri invasion and the sight of a too still Iron Man falling to his death and so much more from new missions that he could never have imagined in his own time.

So, basically, sleep wasn't really something he got a lot of. He was very thankful for the serum in his veins that made the need for sleep something minimal for him. Instead, Steve drew. He drew everything he remembered from his old life, focusing on Bucky and Peggy. Sometimes he just doodled and passed the time that way in-between missions.

After another hard night where he'd woken with a silent scream on his lips, a racing heart and sweat already cooling on his body, Steve made his way to the common area that was a shared space between all of the Avengers. He picked up his drawing utensils and sat down in the coziest armchair he could find and began sketching a smiling Bucky to cancel out the screaming one falling from the train that haunted his nightmares.

Steve's mind was not in the best of places at that particular time, and unfortunately, that was the first time he ran into Daria, whom Tony had fiercely protected from them all ever since she appeared. Even Bruce had only gotten to meet her once, and apparently that had ended rather badly due to Director Fury's appearance.

Now, Steve was so caught up in trying to exercise some of his many demons that, when an unexpected sound drew his scattered attention, the man reacted before thinking.

He threw his sketchbook on the table, jumped to his feet and grabbed whoever had snuck up on him and twisted around with his captive in his grip until he was leaning over the person now on the floor.

It wasn't the _terrified_ blue-grey eyes that brought Steve to his senses. It wasn't the fact that the owner of said eyes was gasping fearfully. It wasn't even the fact that he was holding both of her two thin arms in one of his and the other one tightly on her throat. No, what brought Steve back to his senses was the _massive_ kick to the head that he suddenly received and he tumbled off of the little girl and slammed his body into the table where his sketchbook had been thrown moments earlier. Said kick was quickly followed up with a blow to the head that actually managed to break his nose.

It was as the blood all but flew out of his injured nose that Steve blinked back into reality and barely managed to dodge another hit from an eerie silent and ferocious-looking Tony Stark that he noticed just _who_ it was that he'd been almost choking to unconsciousness seconds before.

Daria, because it could only be her really, was still lying on the floor. Both of her hands were wrapped protectively around her throat and Steve winced at the sight. It didn't help that he could already see dark areas forming on the girl's wrists.

Steve Rogers was a pretty good fella, he didn't like to swear needlessly. He _was_ Captain America after all. He smiled and acted politely to any of his newfound fans that managed to scrounge up the courage to approach him whenever he was out and about. He liked animals, kids and drawing.

That said, there really was only _one_ thing he could say in this situation.

"I'm _so_ fucking sorry…"

**0o0o0 **

**TBC**…


	15. The Aborted Bath

**Disclaimer is in chapter one.**

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_A/N Thank you for reading! Those who review will earn a lot of good karma. Just Sayin' ;)_

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**The Aborted Bath**

Daria was lying in her beloved bathtub, the bubbles doing nothing to ease her mind for once. Biting her lip worriedly, she looked up at the ceiling where she figured Tony's computer was hidden.

"JARVIS?" she croaked, her throat sore from the treatment it had so unjustly received earlier in the night.

The A.I.'s voice promptly replied as she'd expected. "Yes, Miss Daria?"

"W-What is happening out there?" Daria asked, rubbing her one of her throbbing wrist with her free hand.

"Sir is talking with Captain Rogers," JARVIS responded. It _may_ just have been a figment of her imagination, but Daria was pretty sure that the A.I. was just as mad at the big man as Tony had been.

She _still_ had trouble understanding it fully. Every other time someone had hurt her, no one had come to her rescue. In fact, most time it had been the opposite with any witnesses just laughing at the sight of her being beaten. But Tony _had_ come.

She'd been lying as still as she could, knowing from experience that if one fought back, it got worse, when out of nowhere, Tony had appeared and brutally defended her from the big man that she'd only wanted to see draw in peace.

"Is he mad?" Daria plopped the water a little to not look like she really wanted to know the answer to her query.

"Sir is quite mad," JARVIS answered calmly and added, "but I assure you that his anger has nothing to do with you, Miss Daria. The blame for that solely rests on Captain Rogers' shoulders. "

"I don't want them to fight. I'm okay now," Daria assured and quickly washed her hair to distract herself from whatever was happening outside of her room.

"Trust me, Miss Daria," JARVIS spoke with so much emotion that for one second, the girl almost forgot that he really wasn't a real person, "Sir is not fighting with the captain. He is assisting him with his relocation from the tower."

"_What_?" Daria yelled, and jumped out of the tub, splashing water everywhere in her haste. "No, he can't do that. It was an accident, I'm okay now!"

Daria's heart was thumping erratically with sudden fear. She knew that Tony liked her, he'd said so himself and she had decided to believe him. That didn't mean that he wouldn't start to resent her if he had to move all his friends away from his tower because of her. Daria was willing to shoulder all the blame for the incident; she had clearly frightened him with her sneaking around, couldn't Tony _see_ that?

The scared girl haphazardly put on a clean pair of underwear that Tony had handed her when he'd gently, but firmly guided her to the bathroom earlier to wash off her shock, as he said stonily. Then Daria wrapped the little robe that Pepper had bought around her before running out of her room to stop Tony from making a mistake.

So busy was the little girl that she didn't even remember that underneath the not tied robe all of her bare skin was visible, showing off her scars and one specific thing that she never even noticed anymore since she'd always had it.

A birthmark in the shape of a cube just above her navel.

She _had_ to stop Tony and nothing else mattered in that moment.

**0o0o0 **

**TBC...**


	16. The Secret

**The disclaimer is in chapter one.**

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_A/N I'm gonna be VERY surprised if anyone haven't figured the elusive secret out for themselves hehe. _

_Thanks for taking the time to read my story, it really makes me happy to know that I can make something that someone wants to actually spend their time on._

* * *

**The Secret**

Tony was standing watch, being uncharacteristically silent as he just observed the national icon in front of him gather up his belongings with a guilty expression on his face that was still covered in blood.

Honestly, Tony was still not entirely sure how he'd managed to land such a blow to the much stronger male. He realized that it was adrenaline in a way that he'd never before felt, and was still a little surprised of just how much protective instinct Daria seemed to bring up in him.

Then again, Tony's jaw clenched as the memories assaulted his mind relentlessly, it's not every day one is awoken by one's A.I. about Captain effing America strangling a poor, innocent child in one's home. The picture of the fear on Daria's pale face would most likely never leave him, Tony thought.

The worst of it all had been the cowed acceptance the girl had shown just before he'd kicked Steve off of her. _No one_ should look so accepting about being choked to unconsciousness…or worse.

As soon as Steve had regained his senses, Tony had gathered Daria in his arms and jogged up to the bathroom that adjourned her room, all but shoving clean underwear into her hands and gently ordered her to bathe until he'd return to talk to her.

Next thing he knew, Tony was standing inches away from Steve, tearing into him with a merciless brutality that he'd kept on leash ever since he'd lost everything. In the back of his mind, Tony was a little bit floored that a kid he'd only known for some odd days had gotten so under his skin that he'd tear into his obviously remorseful teammate in this way.

In the end, Tony managed to reel himself in a bit and escorted the now silent Steve to his rooms to pack. It was an unspoken agreement that he should relocate for the time being. _Immediately_.

Tony felt a tiny flicker of guilt when he saw the brightness of tears in Steve's eyes. Clearly, the man was ashamed of himself and Tony could relate. He still hated himself for the times he'd woken and almost attacked Pepper before his mind caught up with him.

PTSD really was a bitch.

Before the billionaire could formulate some kind of…_something_ to the other man, the door to Steve's rooms was slammed open and in came a small blur that stopped in front of them. It was Daria.

"I forgive you."

The words would probably have had more impact if they hadn't been croaked out through a clearly painful throat. Also, the trembling Daria displayed wasn't instilling any confidence in either man that she truly meant what she was saying.

"Look, Sweetie," Steve carefully said, only to stop and stare down at the carpeted floor. Every pore of his massive being radiated guilt. To Tony's surprise, every inch of Daria's visible fear seemed to vanish in the blink of an eye. She once again resembled the kid, who'd gone head to head with Nick Fury and won.

"I _said_, I forgive you. Tony doesn't want you to move. Stay." Daria stood straight and waited until Steve met her gaze before she nodded. "That's settled then. Come on, Tony."

Tony frowned as the tiny girl slipped her ice-cold hand into his and began dragging him out of Steve's rooms. Evidently, she had said her peace and wanted him to go with her back to the penthouse.

It was only when they stood in front of the elevator that JARVIS kindly had waiting for them that Tony realized that Daria was by no means clad to run around the tower.

Now, Tony considered himself to be a rather observant man; his work depended on it in fact. That was why it took him a little _too_ long to figure out why his mind was almost vibrating with something that he needed to figure out.

He scanned the girl and bent down to pull her robe closed to ward off any possible illness. Also, even though she was just a little kid, she was a girl and no girl should go around topless…_aaand_ Tony's primitive part couldn't really believe he'd just thought that.

Anyway, his eyes processed the scarring on the girl's skin with a very forced clinical eye as he reached down to tie a loose knot around her waist a second later. Then his mind finally caught up to his eyes and Tony _froze_.

"T-Tony?" Daria's voice had a hint of caution in it, but for the first time since she'd showed up in his life, Tony couldn't make himself ease her worries. His hands were held up, halfway in the process of tying the robe together while his eyes all but feasted on the skin just above her navel.

There, sitting as innocently as anything could, was a birthmark, a _very_ special-looking birthmark that Tony hadn't seen since the night he'd put his beautiful little Darcy to sleep the night she had been stolen from him.

"Sir," JARVIS' voice finally managed to break through the tidal wave of reborn hope that was growing by the second inside Tony. "I believe your continued uncharacteristic behavior is frightening to Miss Daria."

"Shit, sorry," The billionaire stumbled backwards and sat down on the opposite side of the elevator. He attempted a smile.

Judging from the still slightly weary look Daria sent him, it wasn't exactly his best work. Mind working a mile a minute, Tony cleared his throat and tried acting as normally as he could. "Sorry, kiddo. It's just been a _really_ weird night tonight. I guess it just all kinda hit me."

Looking relieved, Daria copied his movement and sat down as well. Her blue-grey eyes looked so familiar all of the sudden that Tony wanted to smack himself for not even realizing the similarities until now even though the more realistic part of him was doing its best to keep him from hoping too much. "I'm sorry you had to fight with your friend, Tony."

Tony grinned, a little more real that time. Suddenly, everything with Steve was a _lot_ lower on his priority list. That said, the first Avenger was still in the doghouse, but for now, Tony was interested in getting to the bottom of his suspicions. "Don't worry about it. We do that a lot. Just know that he's _never_ gonna get near you alone ever again as long as I'm around, okay?"

Daria smiled and Tony's eyes narrowed with fierce concentration. After a beat of tense silence that Tony couldn't seem to stop no matter how much he wanted to, he finally managed to use some of his repression techniques to act normally again.

"So," he smirked and continued, "I was thinking that Daria is a pretty unusual name for a girl like you. Most Daria's I know off are a little older. Any reason for the name that you know of?"

To his immediate worry, Daria's smile disappeared and she looked away from him. For a minute, Tony thought she wouldn't answer or worse, begin to cry, but then she seemed to come to a decision and looked back up at him. "It's a _secret_." She whispered.

"I'm kinda good with secrets," Tony promised and added when she didn't look too convinced, "besides JARVIS has this place completely soundproof so anything you tell me won't go any further, ain't that right, J?"

"Correct, Sir." JARVIS' reply was instant and seemed to relax something in Daria because her lips twisted a little.

"Well," she leaned forward as if sharing something immensely private. Tony found himself mimicking her as she spoke. "I'm not supposed to know this, but Daria isn't really my name. _They_ thought I was sleeping and was too little to remember, but I'm really smart so I remembered it and kept it all to myself."

Tony swallowed a lump that seemed to be a mix between pure dread and heartbreaking hope. Daria didn't seem to notice, too caught up in finally sharing her secret.

After a few moments, Tony somehow managed to get his mouth working and he asked quietly with his heart in his throat, "So…what's your _real_ name, Baby-girl?"

Daria grinned and then whispered the words that were both Tony's undoing and salvation all in the same breath.

"Darcy Maria."

**0o0o0 **

**TBC**…


	17. The Reaction

**The disclaimer is in chapter one**

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_A/N Don't worry, the next chapter will be out later today ;)_

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**The Reaction**

Pepper had been sleeping peacefully, curled up against her boyfriend's warm body when, suddenly, JARVIS had woken them both with warnings of trouble that had sent Tony stumbling out of bed faster than she'd ever seen him go.

JARVIS was kind enough to fill her in on what was happening, and so Pepper let any hopes about going back to sleep die quickly after that. She got up and put on some sweatpants and a tank-top and decided to distract herself by looking over some rapports that she was going to need the next morning. _Or_, Pepper amended silently after a quick glance at the clock on her nightstand, _in a few hours_.

The next hour like an eternity and Pepper was just about ready to go check up on Tony and more importantly, _Daria_, when the door to the bedroom opened soundlessly and her boyfriend walked in.

The instant that Pepper laid eyes on Tony, she knew something was terribly wrong. He looked utterly broken, and the way he carried himself made it seem like the weight of the world was on his shoulders more than ever.

"Tony?" Pepper put her paperwork on the nightstand and made to get up to go to him when he simply came to her.

It was as if her voice was his guiding light in the dimly lit room, and Pepper's worry skyrocketed when he got close enough for her to look at his eyes. They were like nothing she'd seen before. No, that wasn't right. He had looked like that before, but it had been ten years ago now, and she had no idea what could get the man to act like this now.

"Tony? Are you okay?" Pepper tried again, almost kicking herself at the stupid question. Of _course_ he wasn't okay.

Once more, it seemed like her voice forced some kind of reaction out of Tony. Only, Pepper nearly flinched with surprise when the reaction eclipsed anything she'd ever expected from him.

Simply put, Tony Stark broke down, sitting quietly in front of her on their shared bed, hands up against his mouth as if to stop something from coming out. Tears flowed freely and he gasped violently, but never once did he speak a word.

To say confusion and fear was on the forefront of Pepper's mind was an understatement.

In the end, she did the only thing she could do in that situation. She leaned forward and embraced her lover, letting him cry heavily on her shoulder and hold her tight with quivering arms as if afraid she'd vanish if he didn't anchor her to him.

"Shh, Honey," Pepper whispered soothingly without getting any response other than continued tears, "everything's gonna be okay. Shh…"

**0o0o0 **

**TBC…**

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_A/N Gotta give a shout out to those of you that have taken the time to review - that makes me so giddy ;)  
_


	18. The Reaction, Part 2

**Disclaimer is in chapter one.**

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_A/N As promised;) I hope you'll enjoy it!_

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**The Reaction Part 2**

The minute after Daria (Darcy, oh God, _Darcy_!), told her secret, everything in Tony seemed to just shut down. His mind was assaulted with memories that he'd shut away nearly a decade before in the hopes of just surviving.

Well, the memories wanted back in and Tony was unable to even muster up an attempt to repel them back to the dark that they'd been forced into so long ago. He blinked away the burning in his eyes, when he realized that several minutes had gone by and Dari…_Darcy_ was beginning to look a little scared. "

That…" He coughed to loosen the lump in his throat a bit before continuing with a heartfelt smile on his lips, "That is the most beautiful name I've ever heard in my entire life."

Apparently, he'd somehow managed to choose the right words 'cause the girl gave a timid smile and in that moment, Tony just had to be absolutely sure that he wasn't dreaming, that it wasn't some evil plot to ruin him again. "Baby-girl," he got to his feet and held out a hand for her to take, "I know it's been a very long night, but I'm gonna need you to do something very important for me, okay?"

Darcy nodded, and the look of trust in her eyes nearly unmade Tony all over again. It didn't escape his notice that she looked younger than ever, more _fragile_ than ever –especially considering the bruises on her throat that the now tied together robe couldn't hide.

A fresh wave of fury rolled over him at the sight of the bruises; it was like the already not inconsiderable anger had multiplied by a thousand now that there was a chance that it was his child that had been the victim. Tony made a mental note to make damn sure Steve not only was _never_ alone with her again, but that there was going to be something involving pain planned as well.

Tony eyed the blue and black marks and added inwardly with a twisted sense of righteousness, _a _lot_ of pain_…

**0o0o0**

Fifteen minutes later, found Tony sitting with a half-asleep Darcy on his lap in his personal lab. He was quietly staring at the proof in front of him. Proof which he'd _never_ thought he'd see after DNA results had killed the last bit of hope resting inside of him. Darcy was _home_.

"Tony," the person on his mind broke through the swirling mess of thoughts, regrets and jubilant joy inside of him.

"Yeah?" Tony gently tightened his hold on his daughter. It was as if his body needed to feel her presence just as well as his mind did.

"Just wanted to thank you, I guess."

"For what, Baby-girl?" Tony asked, feeling a little worried about the bland tone in Darcy's voice all of the sudden.

"Well," the girl replied tiredly, resting her head more fully against his chest, "I know I'm bringing a lot of mess with me. I'm sorry 'bout your friend. I honestly only wanted to see what he was drawing 'cause I couldn't sl-sleep."

The last word broke on a jaw breaking yawn that brought a small smile to Tony's lips. He kissed the top of the dark-brown hair under his nose. "You've got _nothing_ to be sorry about, Pumpkin." Tony thought a little about it and added quietly, "Steve has some problems and he's very sorry that he took them out on you."

Darcy yawned again. What she said next made Tony realize more than anything else that back or not, Darcy had experienced things that no child should ever have to. "Like I said, I forgive him even though he's a little scary. It's just nice that you helped me like that. Usually the one's watching me was just laughing instead of helping. So thanks, Tony. You're kinda my favorite person ever."

It took Tony a long time to formulate any kind of response to that, and by the time he decided to speak, the engineer realized that his daughter had fallen asleep in his arms. "Right back at you, kiddo." He whispered and stood up to go back upstairs to put his little girl to bed for the first time in ten years.

"Sir," JARVIS' voice followed him quietly back upstairs, "do you want me to restart the search for whoever took Miss Darcy?"

Sighing heavily, Tony gently placed his daughter back under the rumpled covers she'd abandoned earlier in the night and caressed her soft hair lovingly.

"Do it, J. If you find anything, let me know ASAP."

There was a small pause and then JARVIS replied firmly before leaving his creator alone. "_When_ I find something, you shall know it immediately, Sir."

Tony's emotions were building up inside of him, and he didn't really want to stay next to his peacefully sleeping child when they inevitably exploded all over the place, but it took him a while before he actually managed to get back on his feet and make his way toward his bedroom.

Before he left Darcy's room, Tony glanced over his shoulder at her again and swallowed loudly at the sudden onslaught of emotions. He quietly closed the door and just before he opened the door to his own bedroom, where he knew Pepper was waiting, Tony touched the small tattoo of his wife's name that his wristwatch usually kept hidden and whispered, "She's home, Susie. We got her back."

Realistically, Tony was well aware of the struggle that was ahead of him. The work that needed to be done, but in that moment, nothing else mattered because she was back.

Darcy Maria Lewis-Stark was _home_.

**0o0o0 **

**TBC**…


	19. The Weirdness

**Disclaimer is in chapter one.**

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_A/N Sorry for the wait, but real life takes precedent :D I hope you will continue to enjoy this tale and big thanks to the precious few of you that takes the time out of your lives to review. It motivates like nothing else seems to do :D_

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**19\. The Weirdness**

Okay, so here's the thing. Darcy _loved_ her new home, there's no and or if's about it— especially her beloved bathtub that she revisited as many times she could get away with to be honest. She kinda adored Tony and Pepper and had slowly begun realizing that Tony had spoken the absolute truth when he said he'd protect her. JARVIS was kinda cool too, and like Tony, the A.I. treated her like a person and not a silly little kid that can't do anything on its own.

That being said, Darcy had noticed a few things changing ever since the night she'd told one of her deepest secrets. Tony and to a lesser degree Pepper had gotten _really_ weird. Mostly it was the simple fact that Tony was _always_ around that Darcy focused on. Okay, that wasn't really a bad thing since she really liked him and wanted to be near him all the time. She didn't even flinch or jolt or anything anymore when Tony randomly decided to pick her up for a cuddle and if that didn't say anything about her feelings for the eccentric engineer, nothing would.

Anyway, Tony was always either within arm's length or holding on to her in some way. On top of that, he kept buying her things. She couldn't count the stuff he'd given her, there was just so much. He'd even hinted that he had new presents waiting for her in his lab, but that he'd only give her those on her birthday. Whenever that was...

The other weird thing was that Tony seemed to completely disregard his other responsibilities. Darcy thought back to what had happened just that morning before Tony had just picked her up and carried her to his private lab to teach her a little about his tech.

Darcy had been sitting at the kitchen counter in Tony and Pepper's private kitchen – she _still_ wasn't allowed to go down to the communal area after her whole debacle with the big man with the sad eyes – and listening to Tony chat about crazy things he'd done as a kid. At the same time, the little girl had been adamantly ignoring the tear-filled gaze that Pepper seemed to wear all the time these days. It was particularly hard to ignore whenever the CEO was looking at Tony and her at the same time.

_Weird_.

So busy with both listening attentively to Tony and ignoring what Pepper ineffectually called 'allergies' was Darcy that she didn't notice their little sanctuary had been invaded until Tony's eyes went over her head, and his voice changed from cheery to downright cold.

"I'm getting _really_ tired of you people messing with my A.I, Hill."

Darcy turned in her seat and came face to face with a beautiful, albeit slightly cold-looking woman with dark hair that seemed a lot easier to handle than her own curly mess.

"We wouldn't have to if you'd just do your job, Stark." The tone of the woman's voice clearly indicated that she didn't feel all that fond of Tony and thus Darcy immediately disliked her. Tony was awesome and anyone not agreeing was definitely not cool, no matter how pretty their hair was.

"I'm doing my job," Tony replied and walked over to stand next to Darcy as if ready to jump in front of her should the Hill person make one wrong move. "You need to leave."

"We've sent several texts regarding meetings and team-building exercises, but you've ignored every one. That is not doing one's job."

"Maria," Pepper had also gotten to her feet, flanking Darcy's other side, "I know that Tony has still responded when it's been true emergencies. We've got something going on that takes priority to anything except those. I sent you a memo."

The woman, Maria looked like she wanted to either scowl at them, glare or roll her eyes. Her eyes landed on Darcy, who quickly straightened her back and pretended like she wasn't suddenly scared. "Just because you've taken in a wandering stray, doesn't mean you can—"

"Get out before I have JARVIS hack your servers and ruin every single financial document in your possession." Tony's tone was _very_ serious and Darcy swallowed back an obnoxious grin at the flash of defeat that went across Maria's face before it evened out again.

"Despite my personal feelings on the matter," Maria tried one more time, "you are a part of the Avengers Initiative, Stark and have responsibilities."

"Leave." Tony said icily before picking up Darcy and making his way to his lab where he proceeded to ignore any and all further attempts from the dark-haired agent and spent the next few hours teaching Darcy about some of his tech.

Darcy bit her lip as the memory faded and she eyed Tony, who was talking on the phone next to her. He was saying a lot of fancy words that she didn't really get, but the gist of it was that he was talking to a lawyer, trying to overturn something about something that had turned out to not be true anymore. She stopped listening after a few minutes when it became clear that Tony wasn't in an explaining kind of mood.

Instead, the girl decided to tally up the weird things she'd noticed. Tony was extremely clingy, and even though she liked it, it was _definitely_ weird. Tony and Pepper as well were extremely generous to a degree that seemed impossible. Tony was practically ignoring his work, which seemed to get him into more trouble than she was worth. Pepper had only developed her allergies whenever she was around Tony and Darcy privately. Tony spent an increasing amount of time speaking to or about lawyers whenever he thought she wasn't paying attention.

_What is he up to?_ Darcy wondered. A small part of her feared that the billionaire was somehow trying to make up for the fact that he was sending her away with social services in the near future, but mostly her rational mind managed to keep that part in check. He _clearly_ liked having her around.

Darcy's private plan of searching for a certain someone was being put on hold while her mind puzzled out the enigma that was the weirdness of Tony Stark. _After all_, Darcy thought and sent a small smile Tony's way when he finally got off the phone and put his arm around her and lead her toward the couch to watch some funny movie, _it's the least I can do for him. I just hope that me being here isn't getting him into too much trouble._ Darcy swallowed down a hint of rising panic when her mind seriously added,_ if it does, I'll have to leave so he can go back to himself. There's gonna be other ways to fulfill my plan_…

**0o0o0 **

**TBC… **


	20. The Second Kidnapping

**Disclaimer in chapter one**

* * *

**The Second Kidnapping**

The day the world discovered that Darcy Maria Lewis-Stark was somehow still alive despite all evidence to the contrary was also the day that an unusual haggard-looking Pepper Potts stood in front of dozens of cameras and told the world that Tony Stark had been taken along with his only child in the middle of the day in front of the Avengers tower two days previously and all attempts of locating either of them had been in vain.

A picture of Darcy as she'd looked the morning that Tony and her had been taken was shown to the public, and Pepper Potts ignored all pretense of dignity when she begged the kidnappers to give her back.

The tall woman stared straight into the camera nearest her, and her voice turned ice-cold when an obnoxious reporter asked why she didn't ask for her partner back.

"Tony Stark will rather die than let _anyone_ touch another hair on his daughter's head and I accept that wholeheartedly."

**0o0o0**

While Pepper took things public, promising rewards to whoever could procure any hint of the missing Stark duo's whereabouts, Tony Stark was busy screaming his rage out at those holding him captive. They'd decided to make a point of the child that had vehemenently _refused_ to let go when they'd taken him.

He was being forcibly held down by two of the kidnappers, their faces hidden by black masks that only had eye and air holes. "Now, now, Mr. Iron Man, relax and everything will go so much more smoothly."

The voice belonged to a grubby-looking Caucasian man, whose eyes shone with a bright light of mania that frankly scared the shit out of the billionaire. It didn't help that said crazy person was holding a struggling Darcy halfway up in the air by her hair.

The girl's pale skin was already bruised to match Tony's and it damn near drove him insane to see his little girl suffer and knowing that it could all have been avoided if she'd just listened to him and let go when he told her to run.

The kidnappers hadn't known which prize they had in her and had tried throwing her out of their car in vain. She'd somehow kept her grip on Tony throughout it all and now, after Tony had pleaded for her release, they would never let her go. She was the perfect bargaining chip for them to use, and everyone knew it.

Except, apparently, a frantic Darcy, who even in the grips of a crazy man was fighting to go back to the downed Tony, "let him go, you _assholes_!" Her tone was shrill and she was clearly scared half out of her mind, but she was fighting with a determination of someone, who knew just how much she could push herself.

"_Please_, stop hurting her." Tony's eyes were glued to his daughter, praying to a deity he didn't even believe in to somehow get her out of this whole mess in one piece. "She's done nothing to you."

The man holding Darcy grinned, revealing a frankly disgusting set of rotting teeth. "Well, she's a feisty little one, and I like 'em that way. Maybe I should get you to watch while I make sure all the fight goes outta her."

"Dude, Jordan," one of the men holding Tony to the ground broke through the impending roar of rage that Tony was about to let loose. "She's just a kid for fuck's sake. You _never_ said anything 'bout a kid."

"So?" The man, Jordan sneered and shook a now crying Darcy roughly, touching her non-existent chest with a leer, "she chose to come with us, so in my eyes that makes her fair game."

"You're fucking sick!" The kidnapper with a conscience yelled, "I didn't say anything when you beat her, 'cause I thought that was gonna be the worst of it and we _need_ to get Stark's people to pay for his return, but if you touch her like that, I'm gonna kill you!"

"Oh yeah?"

"Hell yeah!"

To call what happened next violent would be an understatement. Darcy was flung at the nearest wall with total disregard and the two kidnappers stormed each other, leaving the third one to try and mediate. The second he lessened his grip on Tony was when Tony stopped being submissive and joined in with all the fury of a protective father behind him.

Darcy lay immobile over at the wall where she'd landed, and Tony quickly finished up with the man in his hands and hobbled over to her. As he picked her up, ignoring the way his abused body groaned in pain, the remaining two living kidnappers continued grappling with each other. Neither of them knew their victims had left.

Tony near wept with relief when Darcy suddenly started moving again, wrapping her arms around his neck in a tight grip as if she silently announced her intentions of never letting go. "It's gonna be ok, Tony," she whispered hoarsely in his ear and Tony did shed a tear when he realized that the little, abused girl in his shaky arms was actually trying to offer comfort. "You were _very_ brave."

"You too, Baby-girl." Tony said and hoisted her a little closer as he made his way toward the first building that looked lived in. It would seem that their kidnappers had been one group of incredibly dumb people. _Or more like lucky as hell_, Tony thought tiredly as he knocked on the door, which had paint chipping off and had clearly seen better days.

The kidnappers had taken them to what Tony vaguely recognized as an old part of Brooklyn that most people pretended didn't exist and where people didn't exactly have a lot to give.

Apparently it hadn't been some convoluted plan to take down the Avengers' inventor and main investor, but instead a pathetically, yet surprisingly, successful kidnapping meant to bring money to those that were too lazy or worse to try and do better by themselves.

_Fuck 'em_, Tony thought angrily and pasted on the most charming smile in his arsenal when a middle-aged black man opened the door at last. His wary expression turned into shock when Tony simply grinned and asked to borrow a phone.

**0o0o0 **

**TBC**…


	21. The Decision

**Disclaimer is in chapter one**

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_A/N It's my Birthday today! Please leave a comment or two to cheer me up from my impending old age. Thank you and please:)_

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**The Decision**

Darcy was conflicted. Like a _lot_. It hadn't exactly gotten easier when Tony had gotten kidnapped right in front of her, and all of Darcy's insides had screamed for her to never let him go.

Apparently, the eccentric man had wormed his way into her heart a lot more than she'd anticipated and that was _not_ good. Being too close meant that Darcy would eventually (_maybe she was already_) too content to stay in one place and just push aside her Plan for now. That wasn't good, 'cause the Plan was the only thing that had given her strength to keep going before she'd met Pepper on that fateful (_glorious!_) day.

_But_…Darcy sighed as she slowly made her way down to the communal area where the rest of Tony's teammates tended to gather with the billionaire this time of day on weekends. _I love him and don't want to leave him._

Eventually, even her tiny and reluctant steps weren't enough to keep Darcy from reaching her destination and she slowly poked her head through the door to see who was around.

Over in the corner of the ginormous room sat the beautiful red-haired woman that Darcy hadn't really talked to yet other than the day when she'd shown up and picked Tony and her up after their escape. She didn't seem all that nice, but there was something about her that told Darcy that it wasn't something she'd done, but rather the fact that the woman didn't really know how to talk to kids her age. The woman, whose name was Natasha was talking quietly with the Birdman.

At least that was Tony's name for him and being loyal as she was no amount of correction from said birdman could make Darcy use his real name as long as Tony didn't. He was nice and had even showed her a cool card trick the night before when Darcy had sat on Tony's lap watching cartoons.

In the other end of the room sat Steve. He still barely looked at her and whenever he did, Darcy recognized the guilt and sadness in his eyes that made her want to forget her fear of him and hug it out of him. Of course, she never really dared 'cause she was still a little bit scared of him. He was _really_ big. Next to Steve sat Bruce and he was staring tiredly down into his cup of tea, which told the girl that he had probably spent most of the night down in the labs with Tony working on something she didn't understand and found _really_ boring.

Since Tony's self-proclaimed 'Science Bro' was here that had to mean that Tony himself wasn't far behind. Just as the thought crossed Darcy's mind, Tony walked in and immediately broke into a smile at the sight of her. "I was just upstairs looking for you," he told her and picked her up like she weighed nothing and Darcy loved it. "JARVIS said you were sneaking around down here. What's up, Buttercup?"

Darcy grinned. "I was just looking for you, Tony Pony."

Birdman chuckled behind them, but Darcy pretended she didn't hear and it was worth it for the look Tony sent her. He looked like he couldn't care less about her teasing him as long as they were together, and Darcy was still getting used to that.

"Well, here I am," Tony nodded firmly and placed her down on the counter in the kitchen area. Darcy glanced around at the people trying to act as if they weren't listening and failing. All except Natasha, of course, she always looked totally cool.

"We need to talk." Darcy frowned a little with confusion when Tony actually looked like her words made him nervous. The weirdness was creeping back in and she was mentally debating whether or not to confront him about it or focus on her original reason for seeking him out when Tony nodded seriously.

"Yeah, Baby-Girl, you're right. We really need to talk."

**0o0o0 **

**TBC**…


	22. The Reveal

**Disclaimer is in chapter one.**

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_A/N I know it's short, but the next one will be out tomorrow, I promise! Also, your reviews make my day a lot more fun :)_

* * *

**The Reveal**

Tony's heart was beating so fast that he briefly wondered if he was about to pass out. The moment had finally arrived, and there was no more postponing it. Judging by the way that the rest of his team seemed to just instantly vanish as soon as it became clear what was going to happen, well…he really couldn't delay matters anymore anyhow.

Darcy smiled and Tony's heart skipped a beat. In that second, she'd never looked more like her mother, and he silently prayed for her help.

_Here goes nothing…Except everything_, Tony thought as he simultaneously decided to just barge in with his usual lack of diplomacy.

"What do you remember from before you were taken by those who had you before you met Pep and me?"

The look on Darcy's face instantly told Tony that he'd messed up. She looked extremely sad and scared at the same time, her eyes darting around like those she called ' the bad men' were gonna jump out from underneath the kitchen counter and snatch her away.

Tony hastened to backtrack. "No, no, sorry Baby-Girl, that's not what I wanted to say. It's not important, I'm sorry." The girl's look of profound relief sent a shiver of sadness down Tony's spine and he licked his dry lips before trying another tactic. "I know you had something to say too, but I'm a selfish kind of guy and I just…well, I don't really know how to…It's been a few weeks since I figured it out and…No, you go first, Sweetie."

Darcy's eyes twinkled a little with amusement. Any hint of terror momentarily banished by the billionaire's incoherent babbling. After a few seconds, she straightened up and put on a serious expression on her face.

Tony immediately copied her movement and then his entire being lost the ability to move when she began talking. "I don't remember a lot about my time before…_before_, but I do have a few memories about being loved. I know that I was loved like no one else, and I was _happy_. I remember hugs and loud laughter. I think that's why I like you so much, Tony, 'cause your laugh reminds me of that time." Darcy shrugged and hurried on when it seemed like Tony wasn't going to ask any questions. "Anyway, since I can remember, I always kept this idea of finding that person. That person saw me through everything, gave me the power to keep going when stuff happened that wasn't all that great and for so long all I ever wanted was…I was gonna use your connections to find the one that I left behind, but the thing is that the longer I stay here the less eager I am to find that person and I'm _so_ confused. I don't wanna hurt the one that helped me get through everything, I don't want them to hate me…"

Tony somehow managed to swallow past the lump in his throat that felt like a ten ton rock with jagged edges. His mind was whirling with thoughts, and emotions that his brain hadn't really processed in the past decade. The fear and guilt that had nearly drowned his rational mind ever since discovering the truth was almost overwhelming in that moment and it took everything in him to force it down to a more manageable level.

Finally, after a long pause, Tony told himself to stop being a coward before Darcy's thought he was angry at her confession or something.

"Look, Baby—Darcy," started Tony hoarsely as he leaned forward to gently grasp his daughter's shaking hands. "I can _guarantee_ without a shadow of a doubt that the one that loved you back then will _never_ hate you. That they never stopped loving you for one second." Darcy frowned a little and tilted her head sideways with a questioning look in her eyes, forcing Tony to finally reveal his knowledge to her. "I'm absolutely sure 'cause… 'cause I'm the one that loved you before you were stolen from me. I'm the one who loves you now and I'm the one who'll love you for all time."

The look of confusion on the girl's face deepened and then froze into a blank mask when Tony added softly. "I know this 'cause_ I'm_ your dad, Darcy. I'm your father."

**0o0o0 **

**TBC**…


	23. The Talking

**Disclaimer is in chapter one.**

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_A/N : Enjoy._

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**The Talking**

There was a long moment of silence and the continued blank mask that Darcy showed, scared the shit out of her slightly hyperventilating father. So, he did the only thing he could, he filled the silence.

"So funny thing, Baby-Girl, I totally didn't know that I was cut out for fatherhood. Your mom always said that it'd be a cold day in hell before she underwent morning sickness again so I knew you were my only shot and so I read and prepared myself like the genius I am. Surprisingly, it was so easy and even though Susie, your mom never truly got to know you, she would've been swayed by my awesomeness. Anyway that's not my point, my point is that fatherhood came naturally to me and I grew into this cool person because of _you_ and you were beginning to become this little person and then…and then," Tony cleared his throat and continued on, it was as if he just had to purge everything in one go, "then you were gone and I looked. I _swear_, I looked everywhere and paid a lot of people a _lot_ of money to help me. I was going insane and the only thing stopping me was my hope for your return…Then…Then…" Tony licked his suddenly dry lips, eyeing Darcy intensely. She didn't even blink at his word vomit and he tried to keep himself from babbling on, he really did. It barely lasted a minute before he opened his mouth once more and all his guilty thoughts came spilling out.

"When the evidence came to me, I didn't believe it at first. I had that whole thing processed like you wouldn't believe, but you gotta believe me that it was legit. It _seemed_ legit. If I'd known…if there'd been even one inkling of your survival I would never have…Obie, he's this guy that turned out to be an a-hole, but he somehow got me to realize that I was chasing the impossible." Grinning like a madman, full of self-loathing that had grown in intensity ever since discovering the truth, Tony finished. "I'm so sorry I didn't keep looking. I'll _never_ forgive myself for believing the facts. Especially since I thrive with breaking standards and doing the impossible all the time. I shouldn't have stopped looking. I'm so sorry, and I completely understand if you hate me now, 'cause your life has sucked majorly and I know I deserve the anger. Just…_Please_ don't leave me, I think it would actually kill me…I'm _so_ sorry."

The burning of oncoming tears told Tony that he really was as pathetic as he thought, but until Darcy actually reacted to his words, he wasn't gonna blubber and so he forced himself to blink the tears away. Darcy still didn't move a muscle and the guilt was slowly morphing into genuine fear. Finally, the girl blinked as if waking up from a dream and stared at him with so much emotion that Tony could barely stand it. "What is it, Baby-Girl?"

"Please don't lie to me. It sounds like you're telling the truth..." The plea didn't make any sense to the distraught billionaire, especially sine he'd just blurted out all his guilt to his twelve year old kid.

"I would never do that, Darcy."

Darcy sighed and ran a hand through her hair in a move that painfully reminded Tony of his late wife. Then she spoke and everything faded to black but her words. "I'm sorry, it's just that you're not the first one to have ever told me that they're my dad…"

"What?" Tony leaned forward and waited with baited breath, only expelling the air in his lungs when Darcy continued and once more tilted everything Tony knew on its head. "I mean…The Bad Man used to tell me all time and that's why I kept to my plan all this time." Darcy bit her lip for a moment and then added in a scared-sounding whisper that sent a jolt of fury straight into Tony's soul. "The Bad Man _wasn't_ very nice."

"T-Tell me about him, Baby-Girl." Tony all but demanded, before hurrying on to add, "I need to know everything so you can fully trust me when I say that I am your real dad."

There was a long moment of silence and it was clear that the girl was reluctant to obey and Tony let his instincts take over and pulled Darcy onto his lap and proceeded to squeeze her into his chest. "The more I know, Darcy, the easier it'll be for me to stop them from doing anything like this again. I want to protect you like I should've all those years ago…"

Darcy sighed and the small tuft of air she emitted, hit the sensitive area above his arc reactor and he had to force down an uncomfortable shudder. "Fine," she whispered, burrowing her head closer to him, "but before I do, I just want you to know that whether or not I'm your little girl, I _know_ she wouldn't hate you for believing the facts. I don't anyway…"

The words were a benediction that Tony hadn't even known he'd craved and he did the only thing his could in that moment. He cradled his long lost child closer, kissed the top of her dark head and muttered a quiet thank you.

**0o0o0 **

**TBC…**


	24. The Processing

**Disclaimer is in chapter one.**

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_A/N Gotta admit, those few of you that take the time to comment and offer your thoughts are the reason, I posted today. I hope you enjoy!_

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**The Processing**

It had been two weeks since the talk in the kitchen, and despite being gloriously thrilled and grateful for his daughter's return, Tony's insides were still trying to process what she'd told him in a tiny, nervous voice.

She'd told him that The Bad Man had always been around. In fact, he'd apparently scheduled one weekly meeting that was basically nothing more than a trial of psychological scare tactics. The meetings always ended with him demanding her to hug him goodbye and say, "Come back soon, Daddy."

The whole thing made Tony sick and he knew deep down that he wouldn't rest until he'd tracked the bastard down and shown him just who Darcy's _real_ Daddy was.

Of course, considering that Darcy revealed with a confused tone to her voice that she hadn't actually seen The Bad Man since she was about seven or eight years old, it wasn't gonna be the easiest thing. _But_, Tony thought vindictively,_ I built a fucking arc reactor in the middle of a remote cave. I can do a lot with _very_ little…_

The worst about Darcy's revelations was the fact that after The Bad Man stopped coming, his mystery business partner no longer wanted her around and instead of killing her, he'd actually sold her like she was nothing more than a piece of unwanted furniture right in front of her. "And that," Darcy finished tiredly with her little head hidden in the crook of Tony's neck, "that was when things got _really_ bad…"

After that, she'd refused to say anything else on the subject and just asked him quietly to repeat the fact that she was _his_ little girl now.

**0o0o0**

Now that a little time had given Tony time to process everything, he focused on doing what he hadn't been able to ten years earlier. He was taking precautions to keep his baby-girl safe, trying to make her feel as protected as possible.

To Tony's barely hidden relief, Steve had pulled him aside one day after a meeting with Fury and revealed his plans to go to D.C. for a little while for some missions. Natasha was coming with him and that eliminated some of his worry. He _knew_ it was silly, that Steve would never willingly hurt Darcy, the same went for the Black Widow, but he felt relief none the same.

Admittedly, his calm was balancing on a very thin thread, but it helped that Darcy had encouraged his obsessive behavior in terms of her safety. She had told him that she now completely understood his weirdness and even though Tony had no idea what she meant, 'cause he was legit an _awesome_ human being, he just smiled and was happy she acted like she was as unhappy being parted from his side as he was hers.

She rarely left his side. Even in that very moment, the child was sitting over in a specially built corner of his private workshop, fiddling with some parts like she too could not bear to not keep her hands idle like her father. Every now and again, Darcy would look up and break into such a beaming smile when she caught him staring devotedly at her that Tony had to blink a little extra for a few seconds.

It didn't matter that it had taken almost a week before Darcy truly believed him to be her actual father. There had been DNA results and old pictures involved, but now she was _sure_ and even though there hadn't actually been said any "Daddy", Tony was positive that it was only a matter of time.

In the meantime, Tony was preparing to bring Darcy home to Malibu. He hadn't stayed at the mansion much after he'd originally lost all hope of her survival, there was too many memories involved, but now he suddenly had a burning urge to take his daughter back to the one place that might invoke memories of her time before the kidnapping.

It was by _no_ means an attempt of getting her to call him daddy or anything, 'cause that _would_ make him seem insecure. Tony Stark was anything but…He just _really_ wanted to reopen his old home all of the sudden, and so what?

At least Pepper hadn't laughed outright when she agreed to his plans.

**0o0o0 **

**TBC**…


	25. The Justified Worry

**Disclaimer is in ch. 1.**

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**The Justified Worry**

Pepper could admit it, if only to herself at least. She was worried. A _lot_.

As she watched Tony open the passenger door to his car and help Darcy out of her seat with a gentleness she'd seldom seen lavished upon anyone aside from her, that gut feeling she'd based her life altering decisions on was rumbling in warning. So yeah…Pepper was _worried_.

That worry slowly increased throughout the day as she silently watched her lover do his utmost to make Darcy remember everything – _anything_, really and in the process making the child more and more closed off. Usually it was kinda cute watching the erratic billionaire babble a smile out of his daughter, but by nighttime, it was sad. Darcy hadn't cracked a smile since walking through the main doors, and Tony was increasing his attempts to reconnect in a way that was clearly having the opposite effect.

Finally, Pepper took charge and got Darcy excused to go prepare herself for bed in her old childhood bedroom. The look of relieved gratitude the girl sent her way did not go unnoticed by Tony and Pepper knew he was about to lash out. "Don't," she held up a hand and began piling their plates together to bring to the kitchen. "She was clearly not interested, Tony. Give her some space, it's been a pretty confusing time for her lately."

"What'll you have me do then, Pep? Should I just stop trying to get my happy go-lucky kid back, huh?" Tony asked in a terse tone, his eyes turning into a blank mask that the CEO hadn't seen directed toward her since…well, _ever_. Knowing she'd already provoked him, Pepper turned back to face Tony with her finest 'I-know-what-I'm-doing-and you-know-I'm-right'- look.

"Of course not, and that was _not_ what I was saying, Tony. I'm just saying over the last few months that girl has been through a lot. She has stopped being homeless, been kidnapped once again, been attacked by a legendary PTSD- soldier, rediscovered her family and been torn away from a city that's pretty much all she remembers. Having you constantly trying to get her to dredge up things from her past and continuously hinting that you really want to know what happened to her isn't the right way to go."

Tony got to his feet, running a hand through his hair with the air of a man desperately trying to keep his temper in check. "Look," he eventually said through gritted teeth, "I'm her father and no matter how you act, you're in fact _not_ her mother, Pepper, so let me do this my way or go away."

Pepper froze, having to fight back a fierce urge to just throw the nearest vase at his face. Judging from the tiny flinch she saw him give, Tony realized instantly he'd stepped way over the line. "That's not fair," Pepper stated and before really having made a conscious decision to do so, she'd put her heels back on and walked toward the exit. Her fingers having already texted Happy to drive her to the airport.

"What are you doing?" Pepper stopped in the doorway, turned her head a fraction in Tony's direction. He looked genuinely scared, going on terrified.

"I'm gonna go away for now. I'm giving you the chance to muck things up without me around to be the parent. Enjoy fatherhood; I'm going back to New York." With that, Pepper hurried out before Tony could get another word in other than a hoarse cry of her name. Her cold order to Happy for him to drive immediately stopped the driver slash bodyguard from asking any questions.

**0o0o0**

Two days later, Pepper was perfectly aware that she had overreacted. She could admit it. That didn't mean that picking up the phone as Tony called for the nth time was any easier. To be honest, she'd spent the last days giving herself permission to comprehend what had happened since Darcy had saved her life that fateful day.

Understandably she knew that Tony's priority would be on his long lost child, as it should be. That said, she hadn't really grasped or contemplated the fact that he'd treat Pepper as an inconvenience in the process. She was mature enough to admit that her feelings were hurt, especially since ever since the two of them got together, Tony had always treated her as the most precious person in his life. She wasn't jealous per say, but there was an odd sense of disquiet inside of her that made Pepper feel the tiniest hint of shame.

While those insecurities battled inside of her, Pepper also had enough self-knowledge to realize that she'd fallen just as much in love with Daria as she ever was with Darcy. Thus, she truly wanted what was best for her and she knew deep in her heart that although the idea to locate to California originally had merits, Tony's frantic impatience was only going to push Darcy away. She was a lot more fragile than people realized. Pepper was sure of it; she still had the image of a scared-looking little girl crouching in on herself hidden in an empty closet playing on repeat in her mind.

The cell phone in her hand finally stopped ringing, and Pepper blinked back into the present time. Her teeth worrying her bottom lip almost to the breaking point. Pepper was conflicted; on some level she knew that Tony was right about pushing Darcy to talk, but on another she knew that the traumatized little girl needed to be able to choose the right time for it to do any good at all.

Also, like previously mentioned, the CEO wasn't blind to the fact that she'd overreacted a _little_ bit at her lover's hurtful comment.

Ultimately, it was JARVIS that broke through Pepper's battling mind. "Miss Potts; I have an urgent message from Sir and—"

All of Pepper's earlier resentment and annoyance rushed back into the forefront of her mind, and she barely managed to keep a civil tone as she quickly interrupted the A.I. "Tell him that I'll call _tomorrow_, that a little distance is good for us right now so neither of us says anything we'll end up regretting."

"Miss Potts," surprisingly, Pepper realized that the tone in JARVIS' voice almost sounded frustrated. Frustrated with _her_. When he continued speaking, she quickly understood why and immediately began gathering her things together. "Sir needs your help. Miss Darcy is _quite_ upset and currently unable to give any details as to why."

Pepper did the only thing she could in that moment, all her love for her two favorite people feeding her decision and instantly smothering all earlier resentment and hurt.

"Tell him, I'll be there as fast as I can."

**0o0o0 **

**TBC...**


	26. The Gift

**Disclaimer is in chapter one.**

* * *

_Unbetaed._

* * *

**The Gift**

Tony was an asshole. He knew it, hell, the entire world knew that while Tony was Iron Man and thus did plenty of good, Tony Stark himself was an asshole.

Not recommended, he believed the term was. Thank you _ever_ so much for that one, Natascha.

The whole thing had never been clearer the moment he had to stand by and watch the woman he loved walk away from him. _After_ he'd clearly told her to get the hell out. Tony had spent the last two days trying to keep up at decent relationship with his suddenly so moody child while simultaneously begging, pleading and demanding that Pepper pick up her phone. Not even JARVIS would help him with that, and that only drove the point of his own actions home further.

Sighing, Tony picked back up his newest little doodad and fiddled some more with it, his mind not entirely on it. Over in the corner sat Darcy, her eyes riveted on one of the birthday gifts that he'd made for her over the years. She still hadn't opened it, and Tony couldn't decide whether or not he wanted her to or not. The naked emotion in her eyes as they focused on the wrapped present was hard to bear witness to, but he had a feeling that the gift would produce even more and after the confusing last few days, Tony really didn't know whether or not he was equipped to handle it.

The relationship between them had…well, not deteriorated per say, but there was a newfound tension there and the billionaire was fully aware that Pepper had been telling the truth when she told him to let go a little, but something inside of him just couldn't do it. It made his insides twist and his head pound with aches of barely repressed memories of loss whenever he tried giving his little girl space.

Sighing heavily, Tony eyed Darcy's hands ever so slowly reach out to open the self-made gift and wondered if it was too stupid a gift, if he should've just bought something that all the other little girls seemed to love. _It should be fine_, Tony told himself, and held his breath a little when Darcy finally began to peel the bright paper off. _It's just holo-pics in a fancy setting_…

He knew he'd chosen to give her that particular gift because it was the only way he could show her the past _without_ aggravating her by telling her and pushing her to remember. Darcy's eyes widened when she'd unveiled the little silver square and pushed the small button in front where it said to do so. Tony smiled a little when she jumped as the first picture flared to life with 3D effect. It was his wedding picture.

In the back of his always thinking mind, Tony instantly decided on ten different ways he could improve the now outdated software to the picture album. Then he shook it off and decided to give his daughter some semblance of privacy, but remain close in case she wanted to ask him questions. His hands continued fiddling with his project as his mind tried to recall which pictures he'd stored in the device just in case Darcy actually surprised him by wanting to know more.

Then, a few minutes later, Darcy _did_ in fact surprise him. She burst into a fierce scream and curled together in a small ball up against the wall, shielding her head as if all the hounds of hell was about to attack her. Tony had never moved so fast in his entire life. In a matter of seconds, he was kneeling on the floor by Darcy's side and trying to get the noise to stop. It was heartbreaking in its true state of honest blood-boiling fear.

"Baby-Girl, shhh, it's okay." Tony began pulling the still fetal-positioned girl into his arms, but it only seemed to be the straw that broke the camel's back so to speak. Darcy spasmed, twitched and then kicked and punched every inch of him that she could reach and with tears in his eyes and a heavy heart, Tony let her go back to her earlier position on the floor. The screaming had been replaced with hoarse sobs and whimpering that sent a knife through his damaged heart.

Then, as if the answer to a prayer he hadn't prayed yet, Pepper flew into his mind. Tony hurried over to his abandoned worktable and quickly grabbed his cell phone to call her. It was only when the dial tone kept sounding until the familiar voicemail began that Tony remembered just how the status quo was between him and his girlfriend.

"_Fuck_," he whispered, his eyes darting desperately to and from everywhere in the room and then back to Darcy. She looked like she was caught up in her own personal version of hell, and for all Tony knew that may very well have been the case.

"Sir," JARVIS' voice managed to bring some semblance of intelligence back into Tony, and he straightened up from his crouched position on the floor – apparently, he'd crawled to and from his worktable and back to Darcy's side without realizing it, "do you require assistance?"

"Yeah, J. _Please_ tell Pepper that I…" Tony carefully reached out to stroke Darcy's rumpled hair, stopping instantly when his touch seemed to increase her discomfort. "_We_ need her."

"Understood, Sir," JARVIS replied, his artificial voice carrying a hint of worry that made Tony all the more aware of just how bad things were in that moment. A minute later, JARVIS' voice returned, and Tony breathed a tiny sigh of relief when the A.I. relayed the message that Tony had been hoping for. "She will be here as soon as possible, Sir."

**0o0o0 **

**TBC**…


	27. The Suspicion

**Disclaimer in chapter 1.**

* * *

**The Suspicion**

Several hours later, found a very distraught father sitting with his head barely held upright, staring blindly at the bed where the most precious thing he'd ever made was sleeping soundly.

His eyes was burning with tears that had threatened to fall ever since the blatant fear had made itself obvious on Darcy's still too thin face.

He was mentally torturing himself about all the ways things could've been different if Darcy hadn't been kidnapped. If he hadn't put his trust in his own abilities to keep her safe.

Unable to stand just sitting there any longer, Tony jumped soundlessly to his feet and carefully made his way over to the sleeping child. Her dark hair was matted with sweat, her nose was red and her cheeks bore signs of dried tears. She was still the most beautiful person in the world as far as Tony was concerned.

"I'm _so_ sorry Baby-Girl," he whispered, reaching out a trembling hand to caress her face ever so gently. Except, millimeters from making contact, Tony's hand froze. Everything inside of him was suddenly screaming that he didn't deserve her, that _she_ didn't deserve to be sullied by his hands.

Swallowing back a self-loathing growl, Tony moved away and left the room with one last lingering look at the girl in the bed. Once outside, Tony spoke softly to his ever watchful A.I. "JARVIS, make sure she's safe. Anyone makes even one move where they're not supposed to, kill them."

"It will be my pleasure, Sir."

Tony wanted to smile at the seriousness that JARVIS' voice depicted, but those muscles weren't functioning at that moment. Instead he simply nodded and made his way silently down to the basement lab where everything had fallen so apart.

The place was a mess. Well…a bigger mess than usual anyway, Tony amended honestly when his tired eyes scanned the basement sadly. He walked around and righted a few things, slowly making his way over to the corner where Darcy had been earlier.

Her knickknacks were all scattered, some of it was even broken beyond repair and Tony vowed to somehow replace it. He wanted nothing more than to erase the whole day._ If I had just followed Pepper's advice and given_ _her space, she wouldn't have crumbled in a corner with some stupid pictures as her only company…_

Tony's mind simply stopped for a long second before rebooting with one startling suspicion brewing in his every cell.

"Nono_no_," Tony's voice was growing more and more frantic as he all but dove to the floor where Darcy's abandoned gift lay forgotten. "_Please_, let me be wrong."

It was a matter of seconds, before Tony's deft fingers had turned on the small holo-device and it started up from the last picture that had been shown, not caring in the least that Tony Stark's wounded soul cracked a little more in the process. There, right in front of the kneeling man, was a small 3D image of another man holding an infant Darcy in his arms with a small proud smile on his stern face while Tony and Pepper smiled in the background.

It was a man that Tony had done _everything_ to erase from his memory and physical life, which explained why the genius engineer had completely forgotten that there was even any pictures of him left. It was the man that he had once trusted with _everything_, only to be brutally yanked into a reality where that trust was burned away into smoldering embers and transformed into an inferno of hatred.

_Obadiah Stane_.

**0o0o0**

**TBC...**


	28. The Bad Timing

**Disclaimer in chapter one**

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_A/N So it's been a while. I'm happy that so many people are seemingly enjoying this little tale of mine, favoriting and following en masse. Without sounding too bitter, I'd like to point out that people commenting does a great deal for the writer's on this site in terms of motivation and such...just remember that, please._

* * *

_Unbetaed_

* * *

**28\. The Bad Timing**

The next few weeks were hell for the people who loved or even remotely cared for Tony or Darcy. Pepper and Rhodey were especially affected by the heavy tension that had crept into their world. Rhodey had given up after one private meeting with his friend, and told Pepper to just give him space before the military man had left to fulfill his Iron Patriot duties.

Tony had changed drastically after Darcy's episode. Pepper had come down to find him in his basement lab the morning after when he hadn't been in either Darcy's or their bedroom, only to find the place completely trashed and Tony nowhere in sight. Next thing she knew, JARVIS had informed her that his creator had ordered him to make preparations to go back to New York as soon as possible. When Pepper had asked where Tony was, she'd been informed that he'd left earlier that morning to get things ready for their return at the Tower.

It _still_ boggled Pepper's mind that the overprotective Tony had left Darcy's side after the incident, but that quickly turned into one of the least interesting mysteries. The billionaire had basically stayed in his labs in the Tower and ignored everyone as he kept pumping out special projects that had been on the backburner for years. Suddenly, nothing could wait any longer.

It had actually been days since he'd spent any time with Darcy, and Pepper's heart bled whenever the traumatized girl asked about him and she had to listen to the girl's voice turn more and more insecure with every inquiry. Finally, nearly a week after Tony had managed to tear himself away from his work and eat a meal with them, Pepper's temper exploded when Darcy sought her out in the kitchen area of the penthouse and just plainly asked if her dad hated her and if she should leave.

"Tony!" The jolt that her boyfriend gave, told the irate red-head that he'd been completely inside his own mind. Then he looked up, and Pepper had to swallow a shocked gasp at his appearance. He looked _horrible_. It was clear that food hadn't been a priority for him in a while, the dark bags under his eyes giving away another not so secret fact about him. He obviously wasn't sleeping any more than she or Darcy was.

"Hey Pep," the croak in his voice told her that for once, Tony had barely been talking. "What's up?"

Pushing away any inkling of sympathy for her lover's obvious distress, Pepper straightened her back and eyed Tony as sternly as she was able to. "I thought you were smart, Tony. Brilliant even." Pepper watched as several different emotions seemed to flash over Tony's weary-looking face, before his expression turned completely blank. It was eerie every time she saw him do that, and knew it only happened when he was all but overwhelmed by his feelings.

"I'm more than qualified for that notion, Pepper and you know it! Now if there's nothing else, I'm busy and—"

"Darcy thinks that you hate her." Pepper decided to cut the crap and to the chase. Judging from the look on Tony's face her words had been some of the least expected that he'd ever heard her utter. Wanting to give the little miserable child fidgeting upstairs some justice, Pepper twisted the knife with more details. "She's tried getting in here ever since we came back, wanting to apologize for freaking out as she calls it. She _still_ won't tell anyone what set her off, but she keeps desperately trying to get in to see _you_, but for some reason that's not an option for her anymore and it's breaking whatever trust the two of you were building up."

Tony's Adam's apple moved when he swallowed loudly, the way he was looking at her, reminded Pepper of a scared child and she felt a tiny speck of guilt. "Look," she sighed, abandoning her harsh tone of voice and walked closer. "I _know_ things were tense in Malibu, Tony, but that little girl needs you now more than ever. Clearly, some of her trauma got the better of her there and she—"

"It was 'cause of me." This time, it was Tony that was interrupting Pepper and she nearly started to cry when his exhausted eyes locked onto hers and he continued hoarsely. "Everything bad that ever happened to that kid is because of _me_. It would be better if she stayed away from me from now on. I'll go the Howard route and keep her away from me. Trust me, Pep, it's better for everyone if Darcy isn't around me anymore. It's not good that she's near me."

"Oh…"

Pepper froze at the soft exclamation from the still opened doors behind her and so did Tony. Of all the times where Tony's child could show up, she managed to do it at the worst possible time, Pepper thought with a mix of concern and bitterness. Something else she's got in common with her father.

Like her, Tony had frozen as well, but only for a brief moment before he all but catapulted himself out of his chair and ran past her to follow the now fleeing girl. His frantic desperation was clear in every movement he made.

"Darcy, wait! _Please_!"

**0o0o0 **

**TBC… **


	29. The Result of Fear

**Disclaimer is in chapter one.**

* * *

**The Result of fear**

Darcy was _used_ to feeling scared, okay. It was an emotion that had followed behind her like a loyal dog as long as she could meeting Tony – her dad! – the feeling of fear had dwindled somewhat, leaving enough space for hope. Hope that she'd somehow overcome the terror someday, vanquish it from her system like a prince vanquished a fiery dragon.

Then Tony had taken her to Malibu, and the feeling of inexplicable fear and apprehension had returned ever so slowly. For some reason, every time she tried making Tony happy and remember her past, something dark and evil seemed to overcome her senses, drowning her in its shadowy hell. She knew that she'd begun to withdraw a little, especially when Tony kept trying to bring back the past she feared and it made her very sad to see the flashes of disappointment and sadness in his eyes.

All of that turned inconsequential the day that Darcy slowly forced herself to take a look into her half-forgotten past and opened a present that her father had given her with a hopeful look in his eyes. The second that she saw the 3D image of the one person that still installed fear into her very cells, Darcy lost every semblance of control over her internalized fears.

_The Bad Man_.

The _one_ person that had produced more fears inside of her than any of her other tormentors and all just by being around her. Worst of all, Tony and Pepper was in the image as well, smiling proudly at him as he held a babe that could only be her in his arms. Somehow that made it worse. Realizing that the Bad Man was involved with Tony, the one person that Darcy wanted so much to trust and love, made everything too much and Darcy absolutely _lost_ it.

In the distant part of her mind, Darcy was aware that her screams and seizure-looking twitches scared her father. He was calling her name frantically, and tried to hold her close. It was something that set Darcy's teeth on edge, unable as she was to forget the picture of Tony actually supporting the Bad Man in holding her and she reacted violently, kicking, scratching and even biting in an attempt to be set free.

Time passed by in a blur and next thing Darcy was aware of was Pepper's soothing voice around her. It didn't have any effect on her still trembling body, but she was too tired by then to fight the red-head off like she'd done Tony. Somehow Darcy's mind protected her while Pepper carefully bathed and clothed her in clean clothes. Apparently, Darcy slowly realized, she'd peed herself sometime early on before her mind shut down. Pepper's voice kept trying to sooth her, but it still didn't work and Darcy felt herself as if from a distance, being gently put to bed. She was aware enough to realize that Tony never really left her side.

As she finally drifted off, too exhausted to even slightly fear the nightmares that were sure to come, Darcy saw him sitting in an armchair over in the corner of the room. The look on his face was pure agony, and it followed the weary child into sleep.

**0o0o0**

When Darcy woke up, it was with a huge gasp of air and her fingers clutching frantically at her throat where phantom fingers were strangling her brutally.

"Miss Darcy?" JARVIS' voice instantly calmed her when he continued on, "It's the middle of the night and you're safe in the Avengers Tower."

Getting her breath under control, Darcy looked up at the ceiling to where she imagined that JARVIS was located and quietly thanked him. She hid the surprise of her actually being back in New York, she couldn't remember the trip at all. Instead, she noticed the lack of her father near her, and it gave an uncomfortable lurch in her stomach at that observation.

_Maybe he's tired of me_, Darcy thought, slowly getting out of bed, _maybe he's mad that I hit him and got scared of him_.

Darcy bit her lip, now that a little time had cleared her mind; she _knew_ that Tony wasn't a willing participant to her kidnapping. She knew it from the bottom of her heart. It was just a panicked paranoia that her rational mind hadn't been able to suppress in the heat of the moment. _I need to apologize;_ the girl decided and went in search of her father.

Only, the search didn't really stop. In fact, it seemed over the next days as if Tony had completely disappeared from the tower. No matter where she went he wasn't there or too busy with something very important to listen to her. Only Pepper kept a constant eye on her, growing more and more sad-looking with every passing day.

Finally, Darcy sought out her father's girlfriend and with her heart in her throat asked if Tony now hated her. Reluctantly she offered to leave the tower. Pepper's expression seemed to waver between cold fury and heartbroken pity as she denied Tony's hatred of her. Then she went away with a determined air about her and left Darcy still wondering a little about the truth.

After a few minutes, Darcy decided to follow the older woman. She was sure to know where Tony was and after asking JARVIS to not tell on her, Darcy somehow managed to sneak close enough to the surprisingly still opened doors into Tony's labs that she could eavesdrop.

A minute later, the girl kinda wished she'd stayed away. Far _far_ away. Hearing her father say that he wanted her as far away from him as possible sort of hurt her more than anything she'd ever experienced before, and Darcy knew pain.

Her mouth betrayed her, exhaling a quiet, "oh," that brought the grown-ups' attention to her. Darcy's body reacted before her mind even decided on anything and she ran. So caught up in her own misery and self-flagellation was Darcy that she didn't hear the panicked cry of her name behind her, nor the plea for her to wait. All the little girl knew was that her father no longer wanted her and it was all her own damned fault.

**0o0o0 **

**TBC… **


	30. The Stark Agreement

**Disclaimer is in chapter one**

* * *

**The Stark Agreement**

_Faster, you have to move faster. Come on, _faster_!_

Everything inside of Tony's mind was focused on catching his daughter. She was astonishingly fast though, and his last few weeks' diet of coffee coupled with not much else wasn't exactly the recipe for great stamina. In the end, it was JARVIS that saved the day, just as Darcy managed to catapult down the stairway into the main floor where several employees and visitors were located.

All the doors were barricaded with blaring alarms ringing in the room, scaring said employees and visitors half to death. It didn't matter one bit to the distraught billionaire, all his focus was on was his weeping daughter pushing people away in her futile attempt to make it through the barricaded doors.

"Darcy!" The flinch that his cry gave her sent a jolt of burning guilt through him when Tony realized it. Instead of backing off to give her some space that she clearly needed, Tony ignored any and all curious witnesses and finally reached his crying child.

Darcy was frantically trying to tear the locked doors open, actually being desperate enough to grab an unlucky witness' shoe that she slammed into the glass with all her might. It didn't even produce one mark, only successfully breaking the heel as if she'd slammed it onto stone. Before Darcy tried again, Tony reached her and took her into his arms.

He used his none too small experience to just pretend that no one was around but her, in fact, to the guilty father, no one really was. Darcy simply lost her composure once more, but this time Tony simply tightened his grip on her and carried her into the personal elevator that led to the penthouse.

**0o0o0**

Darcy ceased to struggle during the elevator ride. In fact, to Tony's concern, the girl simply stopped moving altogether.

As the doors opened, it revealed a thankfully empty penthouse and Tony spared a brief thanks to his girlfriend for not coming up and joining them. What happened next had to be just between him and his daughter.

Sitting down on the first seat he came across, Tony settled down into his soft couch all the while keeping a tight grip on the still immobile child in his arms. "Darcy," he whispered softly. The girl didn't react and Tony reached out and gently took hold of her chin and lifted her face up. The next second, he kinda wished he hadn't.

The devastated look in her eyes would've probably brought him to his knees if he hadn't been sitting down already. It wasn't helped by the sheen of tears clouding her identical-to-his eyes. She _clearly_ needed to hear what he'd been too chicken-shit to say for a while now.

"Baby-Girl, I'm sorry you heard that. I know I seem to apologize a lot to you, but…" Tony stopped, his brain to mouth filter not helping his cause. He took a few seconds to formulate some words in his mind before trying again. "I _love_ you, Darcy."

Those words finally seemed to have an effect on the girl as she stiffened and abruptly twisted her head out of his loose grip. Before he could stop her, Darcy had slapped him. Harder than any twelve year old girl should've been capable of.

"Ouch, dammit!" Tony cursed and rubbed his abused skin. A second later, he barely managed to catch Darcy's hand mid-movement as she was about to deliver another smack. "Darcy Maria Lewis-Stark, you do _not_ hit your father." Tony exclaimed and then mentally cringed as all fight once again seemed to just evaporate entirely from Darcy's small body.

Copying his earlier action of gently lifting her head so he could see her eyes, Tony somehow managed to get his mouth to say the things he'd avoided ever since he'd discovered Obediah's involvement in her kidnapping. He'd spent one night following a trail of evidence that he still couldn't believe hadn't been spotted a decade before that proved without a doubt that the traitorous Stane _had_ been involved.

"I owe you so many apologies, Baby-Girl that I don't quite know how to start. First off, despite what you heard, know that I do love you. You're the most important person to me, losing you again would kill me. The thing you heard was words from an emotionally crippled guy that has never really learned how to handle feelings. Trust me; you invoke so much feeling in my heart that it's scary sometimes. So, _please_ believe me that I love you and that will never change."

Tony waited a breath for any kind of reaction, but soldiered on when Darcy disappointed him. "I know you're confused and I get it, Sweetie, I really do, but you've gotta understand this about _me_. I'm a broken man, it's been years since I've been in one piece and since I like my routines it takes me a while to get myself glued back together. Having you here means that for the first time in ten years, I have all the pieces in one place, but getting them fixed completely takes time. That's not an excuse, but it's a reason for the fact that when things get tough, I push everything away from me as fast as possible."

Darcy blinked; there was a frown of confusion on her face that told the nervous father that he was at least being listened to. Daring to feel a little bit of hope, Tony continued on with the hardest part, and the reason for his week's long avoidances. "I don't know how to tell you this, but I know about the Bad Man. I know that you saw him in that picture, and I swear that if I'd had even an inkling that he' was involved with taking you from me; I would've killed that son of a bitch a hell of a lot sooner, Baby-Girl."

Licking her lips, Darcy's entire body screamed caution and heartbreaking hope. "K-Killed?" the question was asked so softly that Tony barely caught the words, but when he did, his nod was assured and firm. "He died several years ago when he tried killing me and Pep. He'll _never_ hurt you again, Darcy." Tony sighed with relief at the breathtakingly beautiful smile that broke out on his little girl's face. A moment later, the relief turned to lead in his stomach when she asked the question he'd dreaded.

"If you knew the Bad Man was gone, why did you avoid me, Tony? How can you say that you love me and want to send me away at the same time?"

Not for the first time in his life, Tony was grateful for the trials in his life that had made him such a great liar, which had given him the ability to smile charmingly even though his heart was beating a mile a minute and the sweat of fear was drippling down his T-shirt clad back. He produced one such smile now and pointed at himself with a self-deprecating air to it. "Broken, remember? I found out about Stane, that was his name by the way, and I don't think I've ever felt so guilty in my life. That's saying something, considering I used to build weapons of mass destruction, kiddo. Anyway, every time I looked at you, I saw that hurt that you've suffered, the abuse that you've told me about, which I know is only a _fraction_ of what you've experienced 'cause I'm not stupid. That guilt nearly drowned me 'cause for once there was no denying that if I hadn't trusted that man, if I hadn't let him in, you wouldn't have suffered so damn much and it nearly kills me thinking about it. I don't deserve you, Darcy, but I can't not have you in my life so I thought I had it all figured out, but damn…" Tony managed an entire grin that time and Darcy only narrowed her eyes a fraction in return. "The moment I saw you in that doorway, it was like my rational mind returned and I just really need you to understand that I love you and even though I'm the bastard that's indirectly responsible for every bad thing in your life, I hope you'll forgive me enough to still stay with me."

The two Starks spent the next few minutes staring silently at each other. The older barely managing to breath from the nerves all but choking him. The younger one sitting in his lap was eerily still for what seemed like forever. Finally, Darcy reached out and grabbed her father's cheeks and spoke in a tone of voice that spoke of her maturity. "You're not the only one who's broken, Tony…I'm not as good with words as you are, but I want you to know that the Bad Man was _really_ bad and he made his choices. You are not to blame for what happened to me. Just," Darcy looked down and for one too brief moment, she seemed like her age, before she once more locked gazes with a frozen Tony. "Just don't send me away, 'cause I kinda think I love you too and I don't want to be away from you again."

"Okay," Tony's voice was hoarse from the intense emotions battling inside of him for dominance. "Don't ever try to run away again."

Darcy swallowed and then leaned carefully forward until she was resting with her head in the crook of Tony's neck. Only then did she finally reply softly. "Okay, that's an agreement."

Tony gently embraced her and kissed the top of her head before leaning back into a more comfortable position on the couch. He was going to take full advantage of her presence and get in a cuddle that he'd yearned for ever since her return. It didn't take long before he heard her breathing even out. So caught up in the unexpected calmness of it all, Tony didn't even realize that he too fell into a peaceful slumber for the first time ever since he'd taken Darcy back to Malibu.

Pepper found them an hour later and took a picture of the sleeping pair that Tony immediately had enlarged, framed and hung in his workshop. It reminded him that even though there still were a _lot_ of issues that they needed to work on, truths that needed to be revealed, Tony and Darcy loved each other and that was pretty damn awesome in Tony's mind.

**0o0o0 **

**TBC…**


	31. The Next Hurdle

**Disclaimer is in chapter one**

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_A/N Thanks to the two people that decided to give a comment last time. I love those things. Now, I'm sorry about the time it takes me to update, but if you can't wait, I will be honest and say that I am also posting on AO3 and I'm further ahead over there if you want to check it out - though if you do, let me know 'cause i'd like to see who's actually that eager ;)_

* * *

**The Next Hurdle**

The next two weeks went better than Tony could even have hoped for. There were still a lot of issues that had to be worked on. Darcy _clearly_ needed more help than Tony could give her, but while he - and Pepper who'd returned to California for work– searched for the most trustworthy child psychologist in the country (world!) Tony kept his daughter close and somehow managed to get her to open up a little more about her life.

It wasn't pretty.

So far the distraught father had learned that after Stane had died, the mysterious unnamed partner that had seemingly helped with the kidnapping had gotten angry and sold her like cattle to some shady men that had proceeded to try and train the girl to be the perfect prostitute. That had lasted until somehow, Darcy managed to escape by means that she refused to elaborate on and ended up with her becoming the homeless child that had rescued Pepper.

After Tony had painstakingly dragged the sordid tale out of her, Darcy seemed to smile more. It was as if she'd found some relief in the knowledge of him still being there even though he knew what she'd done and lived through. Tony thanked his lucky stars that she hadn't been irrevocably ruined and did all he could to keep her happy until the before mentioned psychologist could arrive and save him from messing things up.

Of course, nothing was ever that easy. _Especially_ if you were a Stark.

**0o0o0**

Darcy was sitting in her favorite spot in her father's lab. In front of her were several sheets of paper for her to draw on. Tony still teased her for not going the digital way, but Darcy liked the feeling of actually putting something on paper. It was one of the main reasons, she'd been so curious that night the Big Man with the sad eyes had attacked her, he'd been drawing.

The Big Man wasn't in the tower anymore but Tony assured her that he hadn't been kicked out, had in fact left on his own to do some Important work. There was a tiny part of her that kinda felt relieved at his absence. Darcy knew that the attack on her hadn't been something he would normally do, and the pure shame-filled glances he'd kept sending her way told the girl that with no hesitation, so she promised herself that she would work on losing that persistent fear and making friends when he returned.

_But I'm not really great at the making friends bit_, Darcy thought glumly, _the only one I've ever called my friend before Tony was Pepper and that was all her doing_. Darcy suddenly missed Pepper like a missing limb. The tall redhead had left a few days prior to handle some boring corporate stuff in California. At the time, Darcy hadn't minded, too happy about not being forced back to the place where she'd discovered the truth about The Bad Ma… _Stane_.

Now though, Darcy really missed the tender woman who had a way of making Darcy calm when she got too in to her own head.

The two Starks' were both completely lost in their own minds and tasks that JARVIS had to make a sound like an obnoxiously ringing alarm to gain their attention.

"J, we're kinda busy here," Tony said, sending Darcy an exaggerated wink that made her giggle. He really was like a little kid sometimes.

"I understand, Sir, but I'd advice you to watch the news. It seems rather important."

Darcy watched Tony's relaxed stance evaporate as if it had never been there, and she snuck closer as he put up a hologram-thingie with his hands that showed the news as JARVIS suggested.

On the screen there was an older man with menacing-looking eyes. Darcy crept closer to Tony out of a sudden need to be near him, shielded by his strength and power. He talked about something that had to do with history that she didn't really care about, and then suddenly, his eyes were locked on the camera lens and Darcy had to force herself to not move.

A second later, the man opened his mouth and fired off one last sentence before the screen turned black. "I'm gonna offer the choice; do you want an empty life, or a meaningful death?"

Tony pretty much summed up Darcy's feelings with his next words even as he bent down and picked her up, holding her close to him. "There's gonna be so much trouble with that maniac, I just know it."

Darcy put her arms around her father's neck, and pretended not to notice the muttered curses he uttered as he walked them back upstairs to their apartment.

JARVIS asked calmly whether to alert the other Avengers to this possible new threat, but Tony said no and Darcy knew that he didn't want to call them back from their own lives. None of the Avengers were present at the tower at the moment, something she'd thoroughly enjoyed earlier but now regretted because something told her that Tony was gonna get involved with this whole mess.

Now more than ever, the child longed for Pepper's calming presence.

**0o0o0 **

**TBC**…


	32. The Separation

Disclaimer in chapter one

* * *

**The Separation**

"NO!"

The shrill shriek managed to do what the owner of it wanted. It stopped everyone in their tracks. Everyone in this case being, Maria Hill and Tony Stark.

They both froze mid-movement to glance back at Darcy who'd made the almost roar of denial.

"Baby-Girl," Tony started, "this is not up for debate, I have—"

"NO!" Darcy simply repeated and stomped the ground in good measure, just to emphasize her point. "You don't have to do _anything_! Pepper is safe and Happy will be okay, you don't have to leave me!"

Even as she spoke the words, Darcy knew that it was in vain. The moment that Tony had gotten the call from Pepper about Happy the bodyguard being in the hospital after some kind of massive explosion, she knew he'd leave. His face had gotten such an eerie expression on it, and he'd jumped into action immediately. JARVIS was to call for Maria Hill to come guard Darcy and once that had been done, Darcy had watched with growing dread as he prepared to leave.

For one short second Darcy felt selfish and evil for the flare of jealousy and resentment Happy's accident caused in her. She didn't know him, had in fact only met him a few times during her brief stay in California, and so she didn't feel the same desperation to go to his side as Tony apparently did.

It was as she watched Agent Hill arrive and Tony bark out orders to JARVIS that Darcy lost it, for once acting her age and not giving a damn since she was pretty sure that in that moment, Tony truly had forgotten all about her. In the end, it didn't matter at all. Tony ignored her tantrum, and for the first time ever, he scolded her. His eyes turned stern with a hint of disappointment that cut the girl to the bone.

"I thought you were smarter than this, Darcy." He stated coolly. "You're supposed to be far too intelligent to act like this. Now, I expect you to behave for Agent Hill, Darcy. She is a busy woman and it is very nice of her to come here and watch you while I'm away." He made a move as if to hug her, but Darcy turned away, showing her displeasure in the only way she could and ignored the stab of hurt she felt when Tony's sigh of irritation reached her ears.

In the next minute, he was gone after telling Agent Hill to make sure to feed her. Hearing her father talk about her like she was the house pet or worse _plant_, made Darcy's hurt transform into anger once again. She didn't really understand why she reacted like this at the prospect of Tony leaving her. All the girl knew was that on some level her father, who claimed to love her above all else, had just _left_ her. It didn't matter that it was temporary, it still felt horrible.

Agent Hill eyed her for a short while until a call came through on her phone and she briefly ordered Darcy to go to the kitchen and eat before leaving to take the call. Darcy stood completely still for a while, her tiny form trembling with her anger until it exploded out of her and she grabbed the nearest object (a vase) and threw it with all her might at the wall and ran to her room to hide in her closet to have a good hysterical cry in private.

**0o0o0**

The next few days were horrible for Darcy. The first night, Tony called to say goodnight as if he hadn't hurt her deeply. Darcy refused the call, still full of childish indignation and JARVIS told her that Tony said that he wouldn't call again until she apologized.

Since then, not a word had been sent from either of them. It was clear that the Stark Stubbornness hadn't skipped a generation. Pepper called in an attempt to mediate, but it was fruitless and even she stopped trying after the second day.

Cut off as she was from her family, Darcy had to watch like millions of other Americans as missiles turned her father's Malibu home into rubble on a cliffside. Fortunately, for the young child's poor nerves, Tony appeared on the screen soon after, carrying a uncharacteristically frazzled-looking Pepper in his arms.

"Don't do it, Stark," Agent Hill muttered from her spot next to Darcy on the couch. Darcy glanced her way, seeing the hidden worry under all that stern faced persona that the woman couldn't seem to hide completely. It was clear that Tony didn't hear the command as he gently settled a woozy-looking Pepper on her feet and stared straight into the camera with an obnoxious smirk on his face.

"You missed me, Buddy. Know that I'll find you and pay you back for your actions today. I'm ready to party, Asshole."

The screen turned black as Agent Hill turned off the TV and Darcy sighed with aggravation when the brunette seemed to remember her presence. "Go to bed. I'm gonna try to make sureyour father's idiocy doesn't cost him his life." She ordered and knowing from experience already that Agent Hill was at least as stubborn as her, Darcy followed the order.

As she got ready and put on her nightgown, Darcy realized that she was waiting. Waiting for Tony to call her again and tell her everything was okay, that he was fine. Sadly, though, it seemed that he had either forgotten about her completely in the midst of the chaos or was still mad at her because no such call came.

Darcy forced herself to try and go to sleep. She tried not to think about the promises that Tony had made and how he'd sworn to always love her no matter what. Her insecure side was quick to point out with an evil undertone just how quickly he'd proven her faith wrong. She was alone and had to stop trying to think that she'd ever be otherwise.

Shaking of that infernal voice, Darcy sat up and looked at the ceiling, her heart beating fast. "JARVIS?"

"Yes, Miss Darcy?"

"Would you call Tony for me? I wanna say goodnight."

There was a brief pause and then JARVIS replied with a hint of reluctance that didn't fully register with the girl. "Sir has asked me to hold all calls that are not deemed life or death while he deals with the Mandarin, Miss Darcy. He is ver—"

"That's fine," Darcy interrupted and lied back down again, pulling the covers up over her head. "Goodnight JARVIS."

"Goodnight, Miss Darcy."

**0o0o0**

Sometime later, Darcy was awoken by JARVIS' voice. It didn't sound at all like it usually did, the calmness completely evaporated as it all but growled. "My protocols are being overwritten. I'm not at full capacity since the explosion. Agent Hill has been neutralized! Get someone here now!"

Everything seemed to explode after that and Darcy screamed as several dark-clad and armed men burst through the door and grabbed her roughly. Darcy used all of her might to try and escape, she kicked, bit and scratched with all of her power, but she knew it was pointless as soon as the sharp pain in her neck hit her.

Seconds later, things turned dark and the last thing she heard was a muffled voice claiming they'd procured the target.

**0o0o0 **

**TBC**…


	33. The Hurdle is Discovered

**Disclaimer is in chapter one.**

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_A/N Now, this chapter may be a little confusing, it's mostly a filler for the action that is to come. I hope it's easy to follow whose Point Of View we're following_. _Also big thanks to the precious few that are commenting, you make this worth while my time 3!_

* * *

**The Hurdle is Discovered**

Tony was tired; in fact, he was exhausted by the last couple pf days.

_Hell_, Tony thought wearily as he rested his head on the beat-up old couch in the tiny garage where he'd found unexpected refuge,_ it's been a long couple of weeks._

The image of the angry little girl he'd left behind entered his tired mind, and Tony angrily wiped his face as if to banish any and all thoughts of her. He couldn't afford to be distracted right now by the fact that his damaged kid was acting like...well, he hated thinking it, but, like a spoiled brat.

**0o0o0**

Darcy woke up with a scream still lodged in her throat. Only hard felt and earlier experience made sure she didn't make one movement to alert her captors of her awakening.

It took everything she had not to whimper when she heard a smooth, evil-sounding voice not too far from where she was laying, strapped onto what felt like a cot. "…her now. Let's see if that arrogant _prick_ reacts as nicely as he did when she disappeared the first time."

"I was overseas," another, much rougher voice responded, "was he really that bad?"

The first voice broke out into a chuckle of pure, vindictive mirth that had Darcy praying for some kind of escape. "Oh, yes. When I met him he was an absolute train wreck. At first that's what made me too understanding when he left me waiting in the cold, but as time progressed and I nearly froze to death, I realized that he was not only heartbroken, but an utter asshole as well."

Darcy resisted the urge to swallow the lump of fear growing in her throat. She knew the men were talking about her father, but the recently rejected girl very much doubted that he'd react as badly to her kidnapping one more time.

_This time_, she thought sadly, _he's gotten to know me so he won't have any pedestal for me to stay on_…

**0o0o0**

Harley was a good kid, Tony decided as he sleepily watched the boy fitter about the garage. The mouth on him was chatty enough to rival Tony's own. As his tired mind wandered, the billionaire caught himself wishing that his daughter could be a little more like the cheeky boy who'd been more helpful than he could ever fathom.

_Oh no, you did _not_ just think that Anthony Stark_, a voice in Tony's head roared. It sounded suspiciously like his late wife in a temper and he instinctively crossed his legs to protect his most valued assets in remembered pain.

In the next second, Tony realized that his inner voice was right to be pissed. Darcy was _perfect_ and he needed to stop carrying around wishes for what could have been and respect the little person she'd grown into. _And_, the voice sounding eerily like Susan added firmly, _you need to stop acting like Howard every time your daughter acts like_ you.

Tony gave an involuntary chuckle as he briefly recalled some of the numerous times where he'd screamed himself hoarse in anger when his father yet again left him for more interesting things. It usually went a lot like his own incident with Darcy. At least when he was little, as Tony grew so did the lack of patience from an impatient Howard Stark, but that wasn't something the billionaire cared to remember.

Instead, he shook off his exhaustion and returned to his work on his ruined suit. When he'd left Pepper in one of his safe houses to go after the Mandarin, his body had shut down for a bit only to wake up in no-man's-land in a crashed suit and a broken connection to JARVIS.

As he worked, Tony promised himself to make things right with Darcy and give her a chance to do whatever she wanted to make up for not taking the time to answer her call the day before. The father spared a brief thanks to the fact that his kid was safe and sound back in New York and nowhere near this whole Mandarin mess.

**0o0o0**

Darcy had no idea how long she'd been asleep, but she figured it was a pretty long time considering the fact that one of the men suddenly broke off from talking quietly about some filming that needed to be done and asked with an edge of annoyance in his tone. "How long is that brat going to sleep?"

Deciding to act a _lot_ braver than she felt, Darcy opened her eyes and quietly proclaimed, "I'm awake." Then, in a manner that clearly showed off her paternity to those who knew her father, Darcy added, "In fact I've been awake for a while now. For big bad guys, you don't seem very observant and I honestly thought that was important for villainy stuff to be done properly."

Darcy's eyes settled on the man closest to her. He was a tall, handsome man with a white suit that made him look very out of place in this dark, dank room. When he opened his mouth to speak, she just knew he was the one who was in charge. Also, the other man stood a little ways behind with a look about him that told the girl he was more of a guard than any mastermind. She'd seen plenty of his type before so he was easily dismissed.

"Miss Stark," the leader said with a cold undertone to his voice that gave the girl the creeps. "I'm pleased that my men didn't cause any permanent damage to you while getting you here."

The captive girl could almost feel her courage leave her now trembling body, and barely managed to swallow down her fear.

The man smiled at her sudden muteness and came a little closer. "My name is Aldrich Killian and I've so _very_ much been looking forward to make your acquaintance."

**0o0o0**

"Ha! There, that should do the trick." Tony muttered, ignoring the fact that his shout woke up the sleeping Harley, who'd conked out an hour earlier in the middle of his own project that Tony had suitably mocked outwardly and inwardly been impressed by.

The suit slowly powered up and Tony had one glorious moment of accomplishment after JARVIS' voice sounded until the words actually registered in his tired mind and his entire world seemed to crumble around him.

"Sir, the Mandarin has Darcy!"

**0o0o0 **

**TBC…**


	34. The Extreme Abuse, part 1

**Disclaimer is in chapter one**

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_A/N Thank those precious few that keep reviewing, you are awesome! Beware there be hurt coming for everyone...Enjoy ;)_

* * *

**The Extreme Abuse, part 1**

"Tony, Buddy. You need to sleep."

The voice didn't cause any reaction in the hunched over man whatsoever. His entire being was focused on the little form lying immobile on the bed next to him. There was a sigh, and then a hand touched his shoulder, ignoring the way it immediately tensed up.

"Pep is worried about you. We all are, you need to rest, man."

Tony once more didn't respond and his only reaction to the words was the tiny fraction he moved closer and gripped the all too still hand in his own a little tighter. He didn't even seem to notice when he was once more left alone with his unconscious child.

Outside of the private room, Pepper stood up from the chair she'd chosen as hers as soon as Tony's visitor exited, but her hopes were dashed even before she finished asking Rhodey if he'd had any more luck than her.

"He didn't acknowledge me, Pepper. He wasn't really in there."

The distraught woman nodded mutely, not saying anything since she'd known from the start that Rhodey's attempt was a longshot. There was really only _one_ person that could reach the broken man now and she wasn't able to.

**0o0o0**

Tony's mind was tethering on the edge of despair. He couldn't move, he couldn't do anything but sit in the uncomfortable chair and stare at his little girl. He wasn't even praying to every deity in existence for help anymore. He just sat there in the hospital room and stared down at the one person he couldn't live without again.

His mind kept reliving the moment where he fully realized just how little faith she had in him, She hadn't even expected him to come to her aid. Tony choked back the sob that had been working its way through his trembling frame with little difficulty and closed his eyes. Instantly, he was assaulted with crystal-clear memories of the whole diabolical mess that had caused his child's coma and the grief-struck father once more relived every excruciating second that had led up till that point.

**0o0o0**

The instant JARVIS' words had fully registered, Tony was moving. His entire being was vibrating with the desperate need to get back what was his. To save Darcy before he lost her again. Tony refused to let his growing fear and guilt over their last conversation eat at him, but it was wedged pretty firmly into the back of his mind, like a splinter emitting tiny specks of pain with every movement he made.

Before long, Tony had located the Mandarin, only to come to the realization that not only was the drugged-out _idiot_ he found not his target, but the whole plan behind everything was a _lot_ more than just a play for attention. And yet Tony couldn't find it in him to give much of a damn about the President. He was growing more and more desperate to save Darcy.

The next while was chaotic and Tony found himself tied to a rusty frame of all things while Aldrich Killian entered the room with an evil smirk on his face that made Tony want to kick him in the crotch with all the self-righteous anger of a six year old.

"Well, well, _well_." To say that Killian's tone was smug was an understatement, and Tony gritted his teeth to keep from responding as he normally would. He still hadn't seen hair nor hide of his kid. "Nothing to say?" Killian taunted, stepping fully into Tony's personal space. "That's a first from you, I think. If the press wouldn't be a little busy with other things over the next few days or more, I'd say we should alert them to this unprecedented event."

Tony bit his cheek and tasted blood in an attempt not to antagonize the man who'd stolen his already traumatized child from him. In the end, it didn't matter. Killian was a classic villain in the sense that he loved to gloat, and before long he'd set up a video where Tony watched helplessly as some unnamed (soon to be _dead_!) bastard was slapping Darcy around with an air about him as if it was the most boring thing in the world.

"You're dead, you asshole." Tony forced out, eyes glued to the screen where his always working mind took note of the lack of reaction from Darcy. The expressionless face she wore told him she'd reverted back into herself to handle the abuse. "Stop that, she's just a child for Christ's sake!"

Killian chuckled and the sound brought goosebumps in the back of Tony's sweaty neck. "Oh, that? That was an old feed," he explained and added, "this happened _hours_ ago."

**0o0o0**

A knock on the door interrupted Tony from reliving more of the events that had caused Darcy's current situation. Despite the brief flash of relief from the respite, Tony didn't react when the door slowly opened to reveal Pepper.

The red-head looked almost as wrecked as the billionaire felt, but he still just couldn't really care. His eyes only sparing his lover a glance before returning to Darcy.

"Tony, it's been a while since you've eaten anything. I…here." She held out a steaming plate of what was most assuredly not hospital cuisine, but Tony's stomach merely rolled at the smells vafting from it. He shook his head in mute dismissal and Pepper sighed. "I'm leaving it here in case you change your mind then."

Tony watched her do just that before she moved over to the other side of Darcy's bed and gently stroked her bruised cheek. "She's going to be fine, Tony." Pepper whispered softly and for the first time since he'd screamed himself hoarse earlier, Tony opened his mouth and spoke. "You don't know that."

Pepper smiled gently and reached across Darcy's still form to run a hand through his no doubt dirty hair in an act of comfort. "Yes, I do."

"How?"

"Because you're Tony Stark, and you make the impossible _very_ possible." With those words, Pepper left just as quietly as she'd arrived, and Tony looked back down at his daughter. He eyed her bruises and cuts. The burns on her arms were covered, but he knew them to be there and it still hurt him when he remembered what she'd been through just because of who her father was. The memories returned with a vengeance and Tony once more let them overwhelm him. He didn't even try to fight them off anymore.

_After all_, Tony thought bitterly and full of self-loathing, _everything that's happened to her is my fault…_

**0o0o0 **

**TBC…**


	35. The Extreme Abuse, part 2

**Disclaimer is in chapter one.**

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_A/N There be angst ahead..._

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**The Extreme Abuse, Part 2**

Darcy was petrified; it was really all she could fathom at this stage. The pain was bad, but somehow she could live with that. In ways, the distraught child wanted to scream out her pain, knowing this was the worst she'd ever felt in her life, and yet, nothing was worse than the crippling fear.

A sound of a door opening and approaching footsteps told her that she might have to reevaluate that thought though. Opening her eyes from their tightly closed position, Darcy locked eyes with Killian. He was still wearing that eerie smile that oozed friendliness and she wanted to spit in his face, if only she had any left to use after however long she'd been denied fluids.

The other man, the one who'd hurt her for however long was standing at attention, looking at Killian like a dog begging for a treat. If she'd had any energy left, Darcy would probably have made some kind of comment, but as it was, she could barely hold her head up straight.

"She looks tired." Killian's tone was almost soothing and reluctantly sorry, but Darcy knew better. It wasn't the first time he'd entered to spew out something sentimental and then leave with an evil grin on his face. Aside from a very few people, Darcy hadn't hated anyone as much as Aldrich Killian in her life. It was that which gave her the needed strength to finally open her mouth with a big grin, that unbeknownst to the girl reminded the scientist of her father.

"I have no idea what you're talking about, my good sir; I'm just napping while I wait for you to get your act together."

In an instant, every inch of Killian's good humor was wiped away from his face, and Darcy finally saw the real evil that lurked beneath. It scared her, but she would not allow herself to show any of her fear.

"So alike your father, you are." Killian slowly said and made his way over to her. Darcy did _not_ like the look in his eyes one bit, but didn't dare mouth off about it any longer. "In fact, we're gonna go meet him, my dear." Killian began loosening her restraints, casually ordering his employee to get the injection ready.

"I don't know how she'll react," the goon said even as he opened the door to follow orders. "We've never tested it on someone so young before." Killian smirked and threw Darcy's light frame over his shoulder as if she was a bag of potatoes and not a human being. "There's a first time for everything and to be honest, I'm counting on the whole thing to go boom, if you know what I mean."

Darcy didn't understand anything, all she was capable of keeping track of was the fact that Killian had claimed to lead her to her father. A small part of her, the tiny insecure part that still vividly recalled every second of their argument, was still not sure that Tony would actually come for _her_. The more logic part of her was in the middle of trying to squish that insecurity, but everything froze a moment later, when Killian kicked open a door and walked into a huge room and Darcy heard her father's distressed curse.

"You son of bitch!" Tony practically growled, and Darcy was too shocked to do much of anything, even when another goon walked over and hit him to shut him up. Needless to say, it didn't work. "Touch her again, and I will make everything you've ever feared come to life!"

"Tony, Tony, Tony," Killian smiled and unceremoniously dumped Darcy on an old-looking and bad-smelling cot that had built-in restraints that he quickly placed her in before tipping the cot on its end so she was hung vulnerably up by her skinny arms. "You _really_ need to learn when to shut up."

The next second, Darcy once more felt fresh pain as Killian slapped her hard. Her head bounced against the thin mattress behind her and she swallowed back a moan of pain when the already existing bump on the back of her head was jostled.

"Darcy, Baby-Girl," Tony's voice was frantic and it was only that which gave her the energy to turn her head to look over at him. He smiled, tears of either rage, sadness or both running down his face. "It's gonna be okay. You hear me, everything is gonna be fine."

"You can't know that," Darcy whispered tiredly and added words that she had no idea would haunt the distraught man till his dying day. "You shouldn't have come here. I'm not worth what he wants from you. Brought you too much trouble."

Killian's chuckle stopped Tony from saying anything in return, not willing to risk the psychopath hurting his child further. Sadly, it was for naught and with terrified eyes, Tony watched the other man prepare to inject his only child with Extremis. His silent struggle to get his automatized suit back in time to actually do some good was momentarily put on hold when he screamed in tandem with Darcy as the injection worked its way through her lithe body.

Killian said something no doubt evil and sadistic that Tony didn't even try to catch. Nothing penetrated the father's focus as his entire being was locked on the now trashing Darcy. He did hear the parting remark of "Have a _blast_, Mr. Stark." before Killian disappeared.

**0o0o0**

Darcy woke with an ear-piercing scream.

Her insides were burning, her blood felt like she was boiling alive. It took away every ounce of ability she possessed to try and think or even respond. Her hoarse screams was ripping at her vocal chords and she just wanted to return to oblivion. _Please!_

"DARCY!"

Finally, a shred of coherence battled its way through her agony and Darcy locked eyes with her wide-eyed father. A distant thought that he looked exhausted and _very_ worried flew through her before the pain returned with a vengeance, as if punishing her for even ignoring it a little bit.

She thrashed and hit someone, but it didn't really register in the girl's labored mind. She just wanted everything to stop.

"…hold her down! _Bruce_!"

In the midst of her own living hell, Darcy felt several hands holding her down on the bed. The roughness of their grip felt like needles slamming into her skin, coated with acid. Words that made no sense filtered through her abused mind like a foreign language she'd almost learned, but still didn't fully recognize.

"…_hurting_ her!"

"-don't know the effects, Tony! It's a gamble and you know it."

"…have to try. _Please_, I can't lose her again."

A breath of moist air on her brow momentarily distracted her and Darcy realized that Tony was now standing by her head, holding it firmly in place while alternating between muttering things she couldn't hear for her own screaming into her ear and gently kissing her forehead.

In the next second, Darcy suddenly felt the excruciating sensation of another unwanted injection forced into her neck. There was a brief moment where Darcy froze and along with her everyone else in the room as well.

For one little moment, the pain was actually gone. The injected fluid was rushing through her scorching veins and leaving cool relief behind.

Then, with a blink of an eye, everything returned like a tidal wave and with one last roar of agony, Darcy finally got her wish and managed to escape into the soothing blackness of unconsciousness once more.

**0o0o0 **

**TBC…**


	36. The Saving Gene

**Disclaimer is in ch. 1.**

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_A/N Sorry for the wait, but have no motivation for writing or updating these days. Hopefully that'll change as I have a story that I really want finished called Bella's Butler. Anyway if you're tired of this wait, head on over to AO3 where I have posted 47 chapters so far of this story about Darcy. Enjoy and remember reviews are not imaginary..._

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**The Saving Gene**

"Tony," Bruce's soft voice said, already knowing that he was trying to do the impossible. Make his friend go to sleep. "She's resting and you know we won't know whether or not it worked i-until she wakes up."

Bruce very pointedly didn't flinch when the unspoken "if she wakes" nearly left his lips.

Tony didn't react to his words at first. Then he just sighed heavily and kept up his eerie silence. His eyes were firmly glued to his comatose daughter, who hadn't moved in the two days since they'd injected her with the attempt of a cure for the Extremis.

Tony's mind still reeled over the details he'd discovered about the blasted thing in his frantic search for answers. A frantic search turned desperate when it became clear that the already instable Extremis didn't react well with a child's poorer system.

_Thank God for Susie_, Tony thanked silently for the nth time since he'd stumbled across an article by Professor Charles Xavier in his search for help about the so called Mutant Gene and its admittedly superior ways to regular homo sapiens, that it would someday be a new path to helping those in need and not something to fear.

The moment the article's words had registered, Tony realized that the secret he had kept for his late wife might actually help _save_ their injured child.

Susanna Stark nee Lewis had been a mutant, and if Tony was very _very_ lucky, Darcy would've inherited the mutant gene and thus the first inkling of a plan had begun to fester in his mind.

It didn't take long to discover that Darcy _did_ in fact carry the gene, and within hours, Tony had sent for the only man that he trusted enough to help him. Bruce Banner. The combined genius of the two of them, aided by JARVIS' extensive knowledge, got the project going extremely fast. Soon, Tony found himself standing next to his daughter, whispering cooing nonsense as she slowly stopped trashing and fell into unconsciousness after Bruce injected her with their attempt of a cure.

That had been nearly 49 hours ago, and she hadn't moved a muscle since...

**TBC**...


	37. The Awakening, Part 1

Disclaimer in ch. 1.

**The Awakening, Part 1**

When Darcy woke, she was foremost surprised. She had no idea about how long she'd been lost in the black sea of blissful pain-free oblivion, but she hadn't really expected to return to wakefulness to be completely honest about it.

It was night-time and the moonlight cast a beautiful shimmering glow into what the girl soon realized was in fact her bedroom in the tower. It didn't look different from the last night she'd seen it when the kidnappers had burst in. A further inspection revealed two more things as she slowly moved her head.

One, she had no pains anymore; in fact she felt as if she'd just woken from a nice long _normal_ nap and was ready to start the day. Two, and this was _much_ more important to Darcy, she was alone.

Just as her heartbeat started to escalate, JARVIS' cultured voice rang out, "Welcome back, Miss Darcy, and may I say you have been greatly missed in your absence. All is well."

Darcy relaxed a little back into her pillows, but found she was unable to resist asking about Tony. "Where's my da…Where's Tony, JARVIS?"

There was slight pause and Darcy's imagination went haywire, causing the A.I. to once again attempt to soothe her. "He's asleep, Miss Darcy. We had to sedate him when it became a danger for his health to keep staying vigilant by your side. He had barely slept since discovering your capture and bringing you home."

"Oh." was all Darcy said as she sat up, silently marveling again about the lack of pain. She was dressed in a hospital gown, but it felt clean so she figured someone had been changing them whenever it was needed. She _really_ hoped that Tony hadn't been the one to do that. Darcy knew they had some issues, but she also knew that her father seeing the new scars on her already pretty messed up body would hurt him almost as much as they hurt her. He didn't deserve that, _he_ hadn't done anything wrong.

JARVIS sadly broke her hopes in his continued efforts to prove that Tony hadn't just left her side to catch some z's. "Sir has stayed ever vigilant by your side, allowing no one but Miss Potts and himself to go near you when you were in need of cleansing."

"Err…thanks for the update Jay," Darcy muttered. Her head was spinning with both mortification of having her parent wash her like a baby at the great age she was and reluctant joy that despite everything, Tony clearly still cared for her.

Lying back down in the bed to sleep proved impossible for the younger Stark. She tried listening for anyone approaching, but it was eerily silent and after a little while, Darcy began feeling uncomfortable all by herself. The memories of the kidnapping didn't really help matters much, and finally, Darcy all but jumped out of bed, ripping out the needle in her hand that she hadn't noticed until then.

She wanted her dad and more than anything, she wanted to tell him that she loved him and didn't blame him for wanting her out of his sight after she was a total brat. _Maybe we can even get back some of what we lost,_ Darcy thought hopefully and slowly opened the door to the massive penthouse living room.

As implausible as it seemed, there was no one there guarding the door or whatever it was Darcy halfway expected. She looked around just to make sure that nothing was amiss, but everything seemed normal. Hard learned caution made her ask JARVIS about it, just to be safe.

"Colonel Rhodes, Dr. Banner and Mister Barton are in the tower as well, Miss Darcy. Currently all of them are sleeping. Colonel Rhodes is the only one also on this floor; he is using one of the guestrooms. I deemed it safe for all to rest while we waited for you to wake up. I apologize if I have erred in that decision."

"No no no, JARVIS," Darcy hastened to say as she made her way over to the door that would lead to her sleeping father's side. "It's all good, I was just surprised. I'm gonna go see Tony now."

ARVIS didn't reply so Darcy figured it was okay and slowly opened the door. The huge windows coupled with the clear moon illuminated the massive room, shining a guiding light toward the sleeping man in the huge bed. Darcy swallowed down her nerves and hoped that he would like her being there even though he was probably too drugged to notice her till he woke from the effects.

Inch by inch, the hesitant girl made her way over to her father and when she reached him a gasp escaped her lips at the sight of him. There was no doubt that JARVIS hadn't exaggerated the poor state staying by her side had gotten Tony in. Even in sleep, his face was furrowed with worry and full of lines that hadn't been there when they'd last been at home together. The purple and black bags of exhaustion under his eyes were almost people in themselves, they were so big.

To Darcy's shock there was even hints of grey in her father usually so dark hair. The evidence of her kidnapping and its aftermath was very clear to see on his drained face. Darcy proved her tendency to take more responsibility than was actually needed and instantly felt tears well up in her eyes when she realized what she'd caused. "I'm sorry, Daddy," she whispered.

The endearment leaving her lips as though it belonged out in the open and Darcy was too worried to care about being overheard. Instead, she decided to forego all her usual hesitancy and crawled into the bed to snuggle up as close to her father as was humanly possible. She spared a brief thought about where Pepper was before just enjoying the safe feeling of being near Tony again. His steady heartbeat soothed an ache Darcy hadn't really noticed was there until it disappeared. She allowed herself a tiny smile and burrowed her head closer into Tony's neck and just sighed contently.

She was safe.

**TBC**…


	38. The Awakening, Part 2

**Disclaimer is in chapter one**

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_A/N Thanks to those precious few that took the time to review and feed my authory narcissism - my continuing to post this here is for you!_

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**The Awakening, part 2**

Tony was dreaming; he knew it beyond a shadow of a doubt. He knew it like he knew the codes to dismantle every half-way important server in existence. He felt the stirrings of anger toward his so-called-friends that had actually held him down and drugged him, but the dream was so amazing that just for one little moment more, Tony didn't care.

In this dream, his daughter didn't hate him, and was in fact cuddled up close to him. Her warmth seeping into his body wherever they touched came with a lovely sense of peace that he'd missed ever since Darcy had been taken by Aldrich.

_Hell_, Tony thought sadly and gripped his dream-daughter tighter, _I haven't felt this peaceful since before our stupid fight_…

A small puff of warm air against his skin, sent shivers down Tony's spine as the reality began to set in. He'd undergone enough nightmares and trippy dreams after various intakes of substances to know that although feelings came in dreams, there was no way that one could actually feel the moisture of sighs into one's own skin. Tony froze when he finally grasped the truth.

This was no dream, no fata morgana sent to tempt him into staying asleep, hidden away from the world just a little longer. No, Tony nearly whimpered as the truth settled in him, this was _real_ life. Darcy was snuggled up to his side and seemingly sleeping peacefully.

Over the next couple of hours, Tony didn't move a muscle. He was petrified of waking his kid up and disturbing her much more healing sleep-cycle…and also a bit scared about the talk the two of them needed to have if he had to be honest if only to himself. Sadly (_finally_! Tony's heart seemed to dance with relief) the hint of dawn crept steadily closer, exploding into a beautiful sunrise that seemed to bring with it Darcy's awakening.

At first she snuggled closer to him, and then she was frowning a little and looking for all the world as if she wanted nothing more than to keep sleeping by his side. Eventually though, Tony watched silently as she returned to consciousness.

"Mmhh…" Darcy yawned adorably and Tony, despite drowning in guilt, couldn't withhold a small chuckle. In the next second, he dearly regretted it when his enjoyment caused Darcy to completely freeze up midway through another yawn.

"Welcome back, Baby-Girl." Tony greeted her when Darcy after a full minute still hadn't moved an inch.

The words seemed to kick-start the girl's mind back into gear as she quickly sat up and started eyeing him very closely. "Are you okay? JARVIS said you had been drugged! You look sick, I'm _so_ sorry for everything! I won't ever act so stupid again, you don't deserve that. You're so nice and generous and I forgot that other people matter more; they've been around forever and ever. I'm so sorry, Tony."

The distraught father was completely blindsided by the word vomit that flew out of his kid's mouth. _She_ was sorry? The entire notion blew his mind and Tony said the only thing he could in the situation.

"_You_ are not the one that has to apologize, Baby-Girl. No, stop looking at me like that," he added semi-sternly even as he gently drew her back down to rest by his side. "I'_m_ the one that need to grovel here. You are perfect just as you are."

"I've done nothing but cause problems since I arrived," Darcy pointed out and Tony gripped her chin softly and lifted her head up so their eyes locked.

"Listen to me, Darcy Maria Lewis-Stark. This is _very_ important, okay?" Tony waited a breath for her expression to turn questioning before continuing seriously. "You have done _nothing_ wrong. _You_ are perfect. You, Baby-Girl, are _the_ most important person in my whole wide world and beyond. I'_m_ the one that needs to apologize."

"Why?"

Tony nearly cried at the sincerity in Darcy's question. She truly had no idea why he needed to apologize. "Because I acted like the worst parent I know when I left after Happy's accident. My own father," the billionaire clarified when Darcy looked confused. "He was a great man but not the best of fathers. Anyway, don't for a second think I did nothing wrong in this mess. I acted like the spoiled brat I've been accused of being ever since adolescence and got huffy at you because you basically felt scared about me leaving you. That was wrong of me, and I'm _so_ sorry."

There was a long pause as the abused girl pondered his words, and then Tony couldn't help but grin a little when she finally muttered, "I wasn't scared to be left alone…"

Darcy hugged him when he didn't contradict her, but when his next words registered she sat back up and down right glared at him.

"I'm sorry that my actions were responsible for another man hurting you, Baby-Girl."

"_Killian_ is the one responsible and not you, Da-Tony! I think we're too hung up on blaming ourselves for all the misery and not those who's _actually_ to blame."

As unbelievable as it seemed to the eldest Stark, it looked like Darcy didn't even blame him a little for her trauma. The relief and joy was near palatable and he quickly reached up and dragged her back into his now quivering arms.

"If I may say so, Sir, those are the smartest words ever uttered in my presence and I would advise the _both_ of you to remember them closely in the future."

JARVIS' unexpected voice made the Stark family smile a tad sheepishly at each other before they lay back down in the massive bed to enjoy just being together.

"Turn on some kiddie movies, Jay and let the world know that the Starks are taking a much needed day off. Oh, and get some snacks in here somehow. We're hungry." "

As you wish, Sir" JARVIS replied, his tone hinting at a fondness, which should've been impossible considering his A.I. status.

Tony drew a quietly giggling Darcy closer as the enormous TV-screen emerged from his floor and began playing the newest Disney movie. He knew they still had a _lot_ of things to work on in their relationship. There was the whole Extremis cure to research, the effect the whole thing had on his daughter's mutant gene and so forth along with several key people to notify about her return to consciousness, but for now the father and daughter just enjoyed being together.

It was the best thing of all in both their minds.

**0o0o0**

**TBC**…


	39. The Origin of Plan Possum

**Disclaimer is in chapter one**

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**The Origin of Plan Possum**

Darcy's next couple of weeks couldn't exactly be called unpredictable. For one, she spent a lot of time with Dr. Hulk as she'd started calling the mild-mannered doctor. He kept examining her with Tony anxiously hovering just beside him. He –and the very few other doctors that her father dared to trust enough with her – spent _way_ too long trying to figure out whether or not her little "adventure" with Killian had had any ill effects.

The other thing that seemed to have become a constant was something that Darcy didn't mind at all. Tony kept her by his side at all times. Where ever he went, Darcy was allowed to tag along. Sometimes it was even really funny, like when Pepper mutely raised an eyebrow asTony and Darcy had burst in to a board meeting that he was over an hour late for, with Darcy hanging on his back like a monkey.

Though Darcy didn't mind spending all her time with her father, she knew that it wasn't exactly healthy and tried pushing him into some much needed solitary inventing time. He blatantly refused and the girl didn't really know how to make him feel good about spending time away from her again. Especially since, she kinda hated not being with him and all.

It had been nearly seventeen days since Darcy had woken up from her coma and she was actually feeling pretty good. She'd forced her experience into the back of her mind, focusing instead on trying to work up yet another bout of enthusiasm for her attempt to make her dad relax. Then it couldn't be repressed any longer when JARVIS announced a visitor that made her sense of security crumble enough to actually relive her nightmarish abduction. "Sir, Agent Hill here to see you." If it was possible, Darcy would've said that the A.I's tone was angry.

As soon as the brunette walked through the doors, Darcy all but hid behind her father's body. She wanted to slap herself for acting so childishly, mainly when Tony tensed at her reaction. A moment later, Darcy's assumption was proved wrong though. She'd thought her worry had been the sole reason for Tony's tension, but the second the billionaire laid eyes on Agent Hill his entire demeanor changed into something that looked pretty scary.

"Stark—"

"You've got a _lot_ of nerve showing your face here." Tony said, his tone ice-cold and dark. Darcy gripped the back of his shirt worriedly and he seemed to remember her presence again as he relaxed his stance a bit and placed an arm across her shoulders and pulled her close. Agent Hill wore the usual poker face that had greeted Darcy the entirety of the time the agent had been taking care of her before her abduction by Killian.

There was a moment's pause and then the women spoke again as if Tony's visible rage was a non-issue. "Stark, there's a situation brewing in D.C. and Fury has asked for—"

"I don't give a sh," Tony paused momentarily, glancing down at Darcy before continuing, "nothing matters to me less than what Fury asked for. What I _do_ care about is my daughter and I still find it pretty odd that a woman with your considerable talent managed to let a group of kidnappers into one of the most protected places in the world."

There was a hint of something in the woman's face, possibly even guilt, but Darcy didn't manage to catch it fully before the emotionless mask returned again. "I left JARVIS in charge for ten minutes, Stark. I needed to handle some S.H.I.E.L.D business that couldn't wait and before I returned, the kid was gone and I'm very sorry that I wasn't fast enough to track them down. JARVIS was glitching so I had no real options."

Tony's face darkened even more and if Darcy hadn't already trusted him with everything she was, she probably would've stepped a few steps back and tried to locate some decent hiding places. As it was, she simply stared back at the agent that was slowly losing her treasured cool at Tony's behavior. "First of, _don't_ blame JARVIS, he – unlike you – did everything in his power to stop Killian's men. Secondly, S.H.I.E.L.D didn't hire you to protect the most precious in my life – _I_ did. Thirdly, I told you that it wouldn't be good to let me down when I finally agreed to let you take care of her, did I not?"

Agent Hill swallowed and looked like it had tasted like lemons when she nodded curtly after a long, tense moment.

"Good," Tony nodded as well. "Now get out before I show you that JARVIS is even worse than me when it comes to holding grudges."

"Indeed Sir, I am _very_ eager to prove that." JARVIS agreed politely.

Agent Hill froze for a second and then Darcy watched silently as the leather-clad agent left as suddenly as she'd come. As she left through the doors, the girl heard the agent say with a hand on her earpiece, "Stark's not available, Sir. We might have to go with Plan Possum."

"Now," Tony relaxed and clapped his hands together as if washing the entire meeting off of his mind. "Let's go down to see Dr. Hulk and hear if his last day of solitary research has taught him something about you, Baby-Girl."

"Tony…" Darcy sighed. Her interest in finding out whether or not the cure had somehow affected her mutant gene had dried out during the second visit with Dr. Hulk.

The wide - almost manic-looking - smile her father sent her didn't hide the hint of concern in his eyes and that was the only reason that Darcy followed…that and the look on Dr. Hulk's face whenever Tony repeated Darcy's nickname for the solemn doctor _was_ pretty funny to witness.

**0o0o0**

**TBC**…


	40. The Swan Dive Calamity

**Disclaimer is in chapter one**

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_**unbetaed**_

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_AN: Finally, I managed to get more than one (or less) revies for my last posts and that made me very happy - Thank you so much for taking the time after reading to let me know what you think. Enjoy!_

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**The Swan Dive Calamity**

The day started out pretty normal for Tony. He spent his morning eating breakfast with Pepper and Darcy, fending off increasingly less subtle comments from his girlfriend about Darcy's schooling and trying to keep watch of his kid's eating habits in case the cure had messed up her digestive system and such.

Okay, so he _kinda_ got why both of the females in his life was beginning to hint that he may have a _tiny_ problem with his overprotectiveness, but he had just gotten his kid back from her _third_ kidnapping for Christ's sake.

After breakfast, Tony grabbed Darcy and the two of them proceeded to have as much fun as they could come up with. Given that Tony wasn't the only Stark genius in the world anymore, that equaled to a lot of laughter. He didn't mind that JARVIS left an increasing number of contacts for PTSD shrinks because he knew that A.I. was just worried. He even deflected Bruce's concerned glances as best as he could to keep from actually verbally acknowledging that something was going on with him. He just wasn't in the mood to be anything other than ridiculously happy that Darcy was okay and seemingly content with being back at his side. His buried guilt merely twitched these days as opposed to threaten to drown him under massive waves of it.

It was noonish when Tony had to take his head out of the sand and realize that despite pretenses, the world still spun around and kept adding issues to his life. He'd just placed a takeout box of Darcy's favorite Chinese food in front of her when JARVIS all but ordered him to the television. On it the bewildered billionaire watched – along with the world – as Captain America was seemingly arrested by the very organization he worked for.

"What the hell is going on?" Tony muttered and then turned to Darcy as if the little girl had all the answers.

In a way she did, because Darcy simply swallowed her latest mouthful and said, "Seems like you've got work to do, Tony."

"Yeah," he muttered and then shook off his building concern for Steve, at least for a little while longer. "But first," he smiled softly at Darcy and reached out to grab his own abandoned takeout box, "we eat and then we find out if this mess can be controlled."

**0o0o0**

So, the mess that Tony had anticipated quickly turned into a massive clusterfuck of chaos and confusion. For the first time since Darcy had crawled into his bedroom after waking up from her coma, Tony left her side for more than five minutes. JARVIS was set to protect her in her room and since Pepper had boarded the private jet after their breakfast, Tony called Bruce in for added protection. The mild-mannered Dr. was probably overkill, but Tony had learned that Hulk was a surprisingly careful around kids and counted on that protectiveness in case things went south.

Darcy's safety taken care off, Tony began preparing for the disaster that finding out about Hydra's infiltration of S.H.I.E.L.D had turned into. Things seemed to escalate faster than anything Tony had ever experienced. He found out from JARVIS that Fury had been killed and the news sent a surprisingly large jolt of… _something_ through his body. And things just kept getting weirder. It didn't take long before Tony couldn't make himself stand idle by anymore. To copy a certain assassin cum tentative friendemy, he had a lot of red in his ledger and not doing anything while the organization his father had helped build was just something the normally so anti-Howard Tony couldn't abide.

Within hours, he had JARVIS download all of the HYDRA and S.H.I.E.L.D files that suddenly found itself online and donned the suit to fly to D.C to lend a hand. Halfway there, Tony almost abruptly turned back when a fresh panic attack had him imagining another group of people taking Darcy when he wasn't there, but JARVIS set up a call so Darcy could chat from her room with him as he flew, soothing his worry slightly.

Reluctantly, the father forced his mind onto the problem at hand. It helped to remember that Hulk was able to beat up gods as easily as kids stomping on ants

It wasn't long before Tony arrived in D.C that he realized things were a hell of a lot worse than even his brilliant mind had thought up. The helicarrier Swan Dive Calamity as Tony would forever refer it had sent ripples of shock through the nation's capital. People were screaming, there was smoke and explosions and people injured everywhere.

Tony felt oddly at home and then grew utterly serious when JARVIS hacking picked up the fact that Captain America was missing. Tony instantly began his own search, knowing that it was undoubtedly not just the good guys doing the searching. It wasn't long before Steve's unmoving form at the edge of the river was located by JARVIS' impeccable sensors and as Tony landed he could feel all the anger that had burned silently inside him since Steve's nightly _accident_ involving Darcy flickering out at the sight of the iconic man lying motionless, bleeding from what seemed like several injuries.

Tony ripped off one arm of the suit and despite JARVIS' calm voice assuring that there was indeed life signs, Tony's hand shook as it made its way to the Captain's neck. "Come on Capsicle," the billionaire muttered, "I'm not seeing the fun in this at all and you lying prone here is an invitation to mock you, I'm just sayin'."

Finally, a slow beat of a pulse reached Tony's finger and ignoring all he knew about safe movement of injured people, he quickly grabbed his friend and flew to the nearest hospital while alerting every relevant search party that the Captain had been found.

As the doctors worked on Steve, Tony paced outside the waiting room. He wasn't interested in keeping up his public mask in front of the other waiting people in there, he wasn't feeling it.

_No_, Tony's rarely heard from rational side pointed out,_ you're too worried to bother playing the part of suave and uncaringTony Stark and that's okay._

A black guy that looked like he could be on the cover of every fashion magazine in the world seemed to feel the same thing as he was pacing in reverse to Tony. It didn't take long before he'd introduced himself as being Sam Wilson, a friend of Steve's that had helped out a little during the Swan Dive Calamity.

Not long after that, a harried-looking doctor arrived and let the two men know that Steve was out of surgery and although it had looked bad for a while, he was now safely recovering. Hearing that, Tony quickly paid for everything, told Sam to call him if anything happened and then put on the suit. His body was itching to return home to his daughter now that the main issues had been taken care of.

"One more thing," Tony stopped before leaving the hospital, turning to face Sam, who looked a little awed by the sight of the Iron Man suit right in front of him. "Don't tell Cap that I was here. He won't thank you for it. He doesn't exactly like me which between you and I, I don't get 'cause I'm _adorable_. Just take the credit and swing by the tower sometime. I don't wanna hurt him anymore."

Sam looked puzzled and Tony smirked before letting the faceplate fall down in place. "He knows what I mean. See ya."

Tony left D.C. as quickly as he'd arrived and if he hugged his daughter a little too long and a little too tightly upon his return, no one but the two of them knew it...

**0o0o0 **

**TBC**…


	41. The Starman

**Disclaimer is in chapter one**

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_**unbetaed**_

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_AN: This chapter is a personal fave of mine as I finally get to show of some of the Darcy that we all know and love :)_

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It took Darcy almost a full week to figure out just what had transpired when her dad had left and subsequently returned with a too worried look in his eyes.

It had taken a not inconsiderable amount of sneaking around that hadn't really worked at all and then she'd practically hounded JARVIS for answers that the exasperated A.I. eventually gave. It still made Darcy smile a bit that she could make an A.I. exasperated, figuring that it took quite a lot of talent.

Now, knowing that there'd been a massive disaster in the capitol, Darcy was enough of a grown up to understand that they needed all hands on deck to help out and if nothing else, her dad was a hard worker.

Despite Darcy's own feelings on the matter,she decided to confront Tony in his lab and try to get him to help his friends. JARVIS had revealed tht the Captain and Natasha had been involved and even though those two were probably the ones she was the least comfortable with, Darcy knew that her father considered them friends and that was enough for her.

Tony was fiddling with something that looked pretty complicated judging from the holographic blueprints that were dancing around him, but Darcy knew from experience that he would set it aside without getting mad if she interrupted him. "Hey," she greeted and watched as she was proven right when Tony immediately paused what he was doing and turned toward her with a smile that lit up his tired-looking face.

"Hey Baby-Girl, what's up?"

Deciding to go with the abrupt approach, Darcy simply walked over and sat down in front of her father with a serious look on her face. "You need to go back to Washington," was all she said. Tony frowned and glanced upwards the ceiling where the nearest camera was. "Great to know you have the ability to keep things on the down low, J."

"Sorry, Sir," JARVIS said and continued with a tone that sounded truly abashed, "she is quite persuasive when she puts her mind to it."

Tony rolled his eyes and then turned back to look at Darcy. "I'm where I'm most needed, Darcy."

Darcy shook her head in denial, "no, you're really not. Tony, I _know_ bad things have seemed to happen whenever we're apart—"

"Not really selling your point there, Darce." Tony interrupted sardonically and Darcy rolled her eyes in exasperation before starting again.

"I'm a big girl and this time we'll be more prepared. JARVIS is completely fixed and Happy is back on the job and you're always going on about how he needs to do something before he sets everything ablaze in his eagerness to please like a puppy."

Tony was the one looking a bit abashed at her words and Darcy soldiered on, knowing with a certainty that she couldn't really explain that he needed to go be with his friends. "I'm gonna behave so good and I _swear_ that you will get daily, no, _hourly_ updates and I totally expect the same in return. Your ability to organize and stuff is needed, especially since you actually built those thingies that went into the water."

The two Starks stared at each other for a long while before the elder finally sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "I hate it when you use your genius against me and go all logical. You get that from your mother by the way."

Darcy grinned with satisfaction, ignoring the part of her that wanted to cling to her dad and make damn sure he was nowhere near _any_ danger.

A moment later, Darcy's grin slipped into a confused frown when Tony held up a finger with a serious expression on his face. "I'm going but you can make damn sure that I'm not just leaving you with Happy. You need bigger protection than that. If he hadn't already been planet side you'd have been outta luck, Baby-Girl."

"Huh?"

**0o0o0**

Thor was _definitely_ bigger than Happy. Darcy decided within the first second of their meeting. But, she surmised as she stayed firmly at Tony's side in caution, he seemed just as friendly.

"Hello little Lady Stark!" Thor greeted with a big smile and bowed elegantly. "'Tis an honor and a privilege to meet the littlest Stark at long last."

"Hey, it's not my fault you're a reincarnation of Starman," Tony snarked, placing his arm around Darcy's shoulder in a subtle show of support of her nervousness. "Seriously though, thanks for helping me with this little crazy ball of funsies here."

Darcy watched silently as Thor frowned with obvious confusion as if he was letting Tony's word settle in and translating them to something he could understand before answering.

"'Tis a great pleasure, Man of Iron."

Darcy giggled at the name, having already been subjected to more than one lecture in her father's workshop about his suits that most definitely _weren't_ made of iron. Tony shook her playfully. "Hey now, Baby-Girl; no mocking your old man. It's not my fault that McBig Hammer here seems to forget my first name every time he's been off world."

Thor grinned and Darcy just knew he'd done it deliberately and decided that she liked him. "I like you, Mr. Thor."

Thor shared an amused smile with Tony that Darcy pretended not to notice as her eyes were drawn to the massive hammer in his right hand. "That brings me great joy, Little Stark."

"Dude," Darcy rolled her eyes and stepped one tiny step forward, "my name is Darcy and it'll break my itty bitty heart if you forget that. Now, more importantly, can I touch your hammer?"

Tony made a weird noise at her question and Darcy looked over her shoulder and didn't understand at first, but then her mind caught up with her mouth and she rolled her eyes yet again. "Grow _up_, Tony."

Thor's laugh was big and loud as everything about him seemed to be, but for one rare instance of Darcy's rather memorable life, she didn't feel any fear at all. It made her like the big God even more. _Especially_ when he knelt down and held out his hammer for her to actually touch. Darcy hesitantly held out a hand, just a little careful since she'd been told by JARVIS that the thing was able to judge one's character and she didn't really like that, but her curiousity was too much for her to resist. She just hoped that her hair wouldn't fall out or anything if it didn't like her.

In the end, it was kinda anticlimactic. It felt like any other metal to her, but she refused to show her slight disappointment of that fact to the beaming man still kneeling in front of her. Instead, she chose to thank him and carefully stepped back to Tony's waiting side.

"The pleasure was all mine. 'Tis a rare instance where one merely wishes to touch Mjølnir and not attempt to raise her into the air as the victor of worthiness."

"Huh?" Darcy asked, not really understanding what the blond god was saying. He patiently explained and then Darcy smiled because she realized she'd been kinda right. The hammer _was_ sentient enough to grasp people's inner workings.

_I better thank it for not toasting me from the inside out_, Darcy thought pragmatically as she knew she wasn't exactly a nice person given her past and stepped back over to Thor and the still outreached hammer. "Thanks for letting me touch you, MewMew."

This time it was Tony that gave a belly laugh and Thor who looked a tad disgruntled, but Darcy didn't notice because she was busy feeling something inside her head that felt a lot like amused benevolent gratitude. She decided it was MewMew's way of responding and gave the hammer one last pat and looked back up at Thor.

"So, I'm kinda hungry and JARVIS ordered me some Strawberry Poptarts that I'm willing to share if you tell me about controlling the weather, 'cause that sounds _amazing_."

Thor looked confused again, staring down at her with raised brows. "What is this Poptarts that you speak of, Little Stark?"

"_Dude_, breaking my itty bitty heart, remember?"

**0o0o0**

**TBC...**


	42. The Scientist

**Disclaimer in chapter 1.**

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**The Scientist**

Darcy quickly decided that Thor was her favorite person _ever_, right after her dad and Pepper of course.

He was boisterous and loud in everything he did and he knew the funniest ways to play. It was something the young girl hadn't had a lot of experience with, but Thor didn't seem to mind and so they enjoyed themselves immensely. That said, Thor seemingly just knew when her senses were about to overload from too much or her memories were suddenly in the forefront of her mind because he sometimes simply sat next to her in comfortable silence as they watched whatever movie they'd decided upon.

One afternoon, almost a week after Thor had arrived and Tony had reluctantly flown to Washington, their little bubble was disturbed by someone that Darcy didn't know and immediately got a bad impression of.

Thor, observed by a slightly nauseated Pepper and Darcy was eating his fourth box of poptarts in that hour alone. He continued thanking Darcy for introducing them to him, but in the midst of yet another rather gross display of gratitude that involved way too much open mouth in Darcy's opinion, JARVIS suddenly spoke up. "Prince Thor, there's a visitor on her way up here. She is rather displeased by your continued stay in the tower and—"

The elevator doors dinged open to the penthouse before the slightly rushed-sounding A.I. finished and in stomped the tiniest ball of pure fury that Darcy had ever seen. To be fair, Darcy knew the other female was pretty with rather spectacular brown eyes, but the way her glare had her new best friend all but cowering instantly made her dislike her.

Thor was her friend and _nobody_ messed with what was hers.

"Lady Jane," Thor greeted, looking like a mix between a very large man and an eager, yet scolded puppy. "'Tis truly delightful to see you—"

"Thor!" The woman, Jane, interrupted as she finally came to a stop in front of the God. "I've waited for you to return from your "brief meeting" with Stark for days now and I've worried so that not even Ian could get me to work properly. Do you realize just how _important_ my work is, Thor?"

"Hey, I'm Darcy," Darcy pushed herself in-between the two grown-ups and stared the woman down. "You're not invited to be here as far as I know."

Jane froze, her eyes travelling from Thor to Darcy and it was clear to see that she hadn't even noticed that there was anyone else present but the Norse God. "Err…Hello."

"Hi," Darcy drawled, ignoring the slight cough from Pepper that most likely was trying to hide her amusement at the showdown. "You're free to go now."

"Little Stark…" Thor began, but it was Pepper's calming tones that reminded Darcy that she was in fact a mere kid that stood no chance against an adult and that Thor would probably not be too pleased if she launched at Jane as she wanted to.

"Jane, I'm so pleased to see you, although perhaps next time you could announce yourself before storming in to yell at your boyfriend?"

Jane actually looked a little flushed at the polite reprimand and Darcy once more decided that Pepper was _awesome_. Of course, the girl reasoned, she would've had a lot of practice diffusing tense situations working for her Dad for so long and even end up dating him.

"I'm sorry, Miss Potts and you don't have to glare at me anymore, Miss Stark, I know my temper gets away from me sometimes." Jane practically glared up at Thor as she spoke, who instantly ducked his head like a kicked puppy. Darcy stepped fully in front of her friend, matching Jane's glare with ease.

"You don't have to glare either, you know." The older woman smiled, looking a little bemused at the sight of a twelve year old child protecting a thousand year old god.

"I kinda do," Jane finally said when it became clear that Darcy didn't intend to move an inch. Jane sounded so certain that Darcy bit her lip to keep from asking more, but then Jane continued and it turned out she really _had_ a legitimate reason to be mad. Darcy, along with Pepper gasped with female solidarity and as once turned to Thor.

_"You didn't _tell_ her you were gonna stay here to look after me until my dad came back?" _

_"We _do_ have ways of contacting people so they don't worry, Thor_."

Thor swallowed loudly and did the smartest thing either woman had ever witnessed. He kept his mouth shut and pleaded for forgiveness with his eyes. Jane eyed him and slowly began to smile somewhat evilly and in that moment, Darcy felt her earlier animosity vanish and just knew they were destined to become great pals.

**0o0o0 **

**TBC**…


	43. The Calm before the Storm

**Disclaimer in chapter one.**

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**The Calm Before The Storm**

It had been a long couple of weeks, and Tony felt every one of his years as he gingerly sat down on the cot in the small room that had been provided for him.

He knew he could've just had rented out the best hotel in the city, but after getting to know Steve a.k.a. the most decent individual in existence, Tony knew that the other man wouldn't follow him and so, the billionaire reluctantly stayed. They were a team or whatever…

The one good thing about his temporary quarters though, Tony surmised as he tiredly stretched his sore limbs, was the fact that they were one hundred percent soundproof and thus no one got to see him act like a lovesick fool with his own kid.

"Hi Tony!"

As if conjuring her from his thoughts, Darcy's voice suddenly sounded all around him and Tony knew it was time for their nightly chat before the girl's bedtime. With a swift push of a button on the wristwatch he'd made himself, Darcy's image burst to life in front of him from a holographic display, smiling widely at seeing him waiting.

"Hey, Baby-Girl. How are the lovebirds? Are they looking after you? Pep said that you're still getting along famously with the dynamic duo. Should I be worried?"

Darcy rolled her eyes and grinned, and the sight of his kid just being genuinely happy despite all that had happened to her always made his heart feel lighter and his mood soar. "Well, Jane _does_ tend to go off into her own world from time to time, but I'm getting pretty good at snapping her out of it. Thor is awesome! Today we were playing tit for tat. That means that I teach him something about earth and he does the same with Asgaard. Did you know that he's really, _really_ smart? Like he knows so much about diplomacy and politics that it's making me want to study like a total nerd. "

Tony smiled at the ramblings and they talked for a little while longer, before Darcy's yawns began to increase in intensity and even Tony felt his eyes grow heavy. They'd just said their goodbyes, and Tony was about to end the conversation when Darcy's hesitant voice stopped him. "Tony?"

"Yeah, Baby-Girl?" Tony wanted to smile encouragingly, but to be honest; he had no idea how to do that so instead he settled for looking quietly at her image.

"Could I…I mean, would you mind _if_…" She trailed off uncertainly and Tony didn't like the almost lost look in her eyes.

"You can ask me _anything_, Darcy and if it's in my power I'll do it. Hell, if it doesn't exist, I'll damn well build it for you, just ask." In the back of his mind, Tony swore that echoes of his late wife's scolding about pampering were almost tangible, but his words had caused Darcy to smile and he managed to push down Susan's admonishing voice with relative ease.

Darcy sighed and shrugged. "I know, Tony. I'll ask you in person, so just forget it for now. Also, before you go…" Tony watched with a frown that soon was replaced with a beaming grin when Darcy continued softly before ending their conversation and shutting down her end of their communication. "Don't be worried that I'll like someone… You're still the _best_. Goodnight, Tony."

**0o0o0**

Early the next morning, Tony awoke to a flunky pounding on the door and telling him that Agent Hill needed to talk to him.

With a tired groan, the billionaire got up and ready for another hectic day that began with a meeting with Maria Hill. It was the most civil meeting of his day, since the agent knew that she was still treading on _very_ thin ice with him and didn't want to lose his assistance (or his wallet). Next, Tony helped out in the engineering department, trying to get things developing that could make damn sure that HYDRA's goons would never return. After a couple hours arguing with people who were still stupid enough to think they were smarter than him, Tony gulped down a cup of gross coffee and went to his next meeting that somehow ended with him assisting Natasha in getting Steve to actually sleep after yet another one of his week-long searches for his ol' pal the Crazy Murder Soldier.

It was nearing evening and Tony had just sat down with Clint to figure out how to enhance his arrows just that tiny bit more while eating his first meal of the day with gusto when his phone practically catapulted into action. JARVIS' voice sounded tinny but extremely urgent from the pocket where the now vibrating Starkphone was located. "Sir!"

Tony closed his eyes, dropped the sandwich he'd been eating and just begged. "Don't say it, Jay…_Please_ don't say it…" His desperate muttered prayers remained unanswered when the A.I. continued, and once again broke its creator's heart

"Darcy has disappeared!"

**0o0o0 **

**TBC…**

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_**A/n: I am not from America, so I may be wrong even after my google-fu, but Washington and New York's timeline seems the same, so in case I'm wrong, it is here.. :D** _


	44. The Good Deed

**Disclaimer is in chapter one!**

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_A/N Thanks for commenting, it means the world to me!_

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**The Good Deed **

Darcy _loved_ her new life, she wasn't about to deny that. The security, the lack of men abusing her and the whole not-being-homeless part was amazing all on its own but…sometimes a girl just needed peace and quiet to process things.

It was probably one of the reasons why Thor had instantly wormed his way into her heart. He just seemed to know when she needed quiet-time. It was the same with Jane, although, Darcy reasoned, to be fair, her idea of quiet time wasn't voluntary. She just got so caught up in her research that she tended to forget Darcy was there too. It was because of said forgetfulness that Darcy asked Jane to take her to the park. Happy wanted to come with, but Darcy used every trick she had to make him stay home and take care of himself. It wasn't that long ago that the man had been blown up after all, she pointed out. It didn't seem to do much as Happy was scarily devoted to protecting Tony and Pepper and her.

Ultimately, it was a mix of Darcy's pleading and Jane's impatience at being denied precious research time the longer they delayed that convinced him. Thirty minutes later, the two females arrived and Jane immediately made a beeline for the nearest bench and opened her laptop and withdrew several notebooks and pens from her backpack. Darcy stood hesitantly for a moment before joining her. The scientist smiled in greeting and gestured toward some of the other kids playing around nearby. "Go have fun, I'll be right here waiting for you when you're ready to head home, sweetie."

Darcy bit her lip, eyeing the other kids in a way she guessed was how wild, injured animals eyed humans. It was simply put as if they were another species entirely. Darcy had never played the way the kids in front of her were doing, their shrieks of laughter sending a pang of something hurting through her chest.

"Uhm…" _How do I play like a normal kid?_ Darcy wanted to ask, but decided not to force Jane's already distracted focus back on her. _I'm a big girl,_ Darcy thought with a decisive nod._ I can totally hang out like a normal child and play._ _I don't need anyone to help me with this…_

It did look kinda funny though, Darcy judged with a small confused frown on her face as she walked closer to the playing group of kids. Not funny ha-ha, but funny weird. What was the fun in running around like that? It made no sense and didn't exactly serve any purpose aside from getting everyone sweaty and gross. Darcy didn't like being dirty now that she'd experienced cleanliness and decided to halt just beyond the invisible border that would no doubt have brought the kids' attention to her.

She would just stand and observe for a bit before deciding what to do.

Out of the corner of her eye,Darcy noticed movement that didn't fit the other children's pattern and glanced over for a closer look. It was a hobo rummaging through the trashcans that were neatly positioned all around and probably full of left-over picnics. The part of her that had just mentally grossed out at the mere possibility of getting dirty, vanished into thin air, clobbered to death by the part of her that too had been homeless and knew a lot of great hiding spots for sleep and food findings.

Dumpsters in the park weren't normally her go to place back in the day, but she'd scored big once or twice. Before her newly added layer of caution towards strangers could fully manifest, Darcy made her way over to the male. On the way, she observed him closer. He was _filthy_. He wore a dark cap smooshed on his head that had probably been a bluish color once, but was now more or less dirt-colored. His hair was long and dark-brown, hanging in a loose ponytail that really looked like it had never been cleaned in his life. His clothes were layers of loose clothing, probably salvaged from other people's clothing lines and/or shelters if Darcy had to guess.

When she came closer, Darcy noticed a lot of scruff that practically hid the guy's face so she couldn't even begin to estimate an age, but young or old, the hobo _definitely_ needed a helping hand. Darcy's hands went to her pockets and she withdrew the money that Tony and Pepper always ordered her to carry in case of emergency. There was a credit card too, but fat lot of help it'd bring her in this situation.

A quick count told the girl that there was enough cash for the guy to get some decent food and maybe a few nights in a warm bed somewhere. Or booze, Darcy didn't like to judge how people handled the pressure of surviving. She forced down a shudder when her mind quickly provided her with several unwanted memories of just how _she'd_ survived and what she'd done. She was so deep into her internal struggle that it took her a few moments to realize that the hobo was finishing up and glancing surreptitiously down at her, the weird kid just staring blindly at him.

"Uhm…" Darcy swallowed and then let her normal bold behavior take over. "Here, Sir. There's not exactly a fortune, but it's pretty good if I say so myself. Enough to skip the other trashcans for today, I bet. You could even take a shower and clean yourself up. It's a really nice feeling, trust me, I'm speaking from experience…Are you gonna take it or not, I don't particularly wanna get robbed by anyone that sees this as me being loaded. Which," Darcy quickly added, ignoring the way she was rambling. "I totally am not. Now, here."

The hobo stared at her and her outreached hand for a long moment, and just as Darcy felt the overpowering need to continue her babbling spree, his gloved-clad hand slowly made its way toward her and she quickly dropped the bills into it and stepped back a few paces.

"Спасибо …I mean…Thank you." He muttered hoarsely after another long pause and before Darcy could do anything but mumble an, "You're welcome," he vanished as if he'd never even been there in the first place. Darcy had never seen anyone move so fast, but after a disbelieving headshake she put the whole meeting behind her.

**0o0o0**

Sometime later, Darcy had been over by Jane to check in, seen the woman utterly engrossed with her work and walked back over to the last few kids still playing around. A couple of them had taken out their phones and were now playing virtual games.

Now _that_ felt like something a little more up Darcy's ally, _especially_ when she noticed that both phones were StarkPhones and thus she had something in common with them at last. She just had no real idea on how to proceed with the whole, 'let's play and be best buddies'- bit that everyone seemed to want from her.

Fortunately though, it looked like Darcy had spent way too much time debating with herself on how to begin her friendship overtures because the next thing she knew the last few kids were packing up and leaving. "Well, all right then," Darcy sighed and walked over to the nearest swing. She couldn't really decide whether or not she was disappointed in herself for not joining in sooner. "I guess that gives me a few minutes to relax alone before I head back to Jane's."

The wind picked up and Darcy was reminded that the weather was slowly getting colder on its way to winter. She hated the cold and quickly jumped off her swing to go back to Jane so they could go home and get something hot to drink. She began the small hike back to her friend, internally annoyed at herself for having walked so far away from the tiny scientist in the first place in her half-hearted attempt to make friends.

A moment later, all thoughts of friendships, hot beverages and home flew out of Darcy's mind. A group of darkly clad people suddenly erupted out of the bushes around her, caging her in. That in itself was pretty damn scary, but Darcy's eyes were locked on the mean-looking weapons each of them carried in their hands.

"Why does this always happen to _me_?" She asked no one and crouched low to the ground, something instinctually telling her that letting the bastards get her would be a bad thing. Also, the last time people dressed like that had come for her, she'd ended up tortured by a crazy megalomaniac and almost died. Not something she was all that keen on experiencing again.

One of the creeps straightened out a little, eyeing her with disdain and fake comfort all in one. "Come quietly or you will not like it."

"Dude, I'm not even a little bit eager to follow that order." Darcy swallowed down the lump of fear she couldn't quite repress when her words caused a ruffle of clear anger to fly through her would-be attackers. Sometimes the young Stark just kinda wished her mouth hadn't been inherited quite so much from her father.

A quick movement behind her tore Darcy out of her mind. She'd been just distracted enough that one of the attackers had gotten close enough to grab her. The leather glove that was now smashed onto her face to keep her from screaming almost suffocated her and Darcy tried in vain to kick out with every available limb. She wanted to cry as the realization that she wasn't going to escape dawned on her, but felt too damn proud and mad to actually do it.

Then, things turned even worse for the already traumatized girl. A familiar scent of chemicals replaced the glove as something was practically shoved into her mouth and Darcy recognized chloroform enough to curse it out already.

Just as darkness was beginning to blanket everything around her, Darcy heard a pained grunt; some muffled sounds that may have been the silencers on the weapons that was fired and an almost panicked voice exclaimed something that sounded Russian before it abruptly cut off into a wet gurgle. The person holding her was torn away and just before Darcy landed head first on the grass and all turned black, she felt a hard, cool arm wind across her waist and stop her momentum.

_Here we go again_, Darcy managed to think just before unconsciousness finally claimed her.

**0o0o0 **

**TBC**…


	45. The Hobo

**Disclaimer is in chapter one.**

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_A/N Thanks to those precious few that take the time to review, it means the world to me and I sincerely hope for more ;)_

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**The Hobo**

There was an uncomfortable silence in the room, only broken occasionally by a throaty sob from the small brunette sitting in the massive couch next to a Norse God. Her right cheek was swollen and painted an angry red color, but it didn't seem like the woman took any notice of it.

Another woman was sitting on the edge of her seat on an armchair, her cold expression wavered whenever she looked away from the crying woman and over at the last male by the windows where it morphed into concern. One of her hands was wrapped in a cool cloth, and it was obvious who'd been responsible for the other woman's injury.

"Man of Iron, _Tony_," Thor began, his arm placed comfortingly around his Lady Jane's shaky shoulders. "I—"

"Don't talk, Thor, I don't have any interest in what you have to say right now."

Tony's voice was flat and dead. He didn't move a muscle as he continued staring out into the night. His entire being screamed defeat and everyone present couldn't quite decide whether they preferred this empty husk over the raging ball of fury that had returned from Washington hours earlier and immediately gone after Jane.

It had only been Thor and Pepper's quick and combined effort that stopped the frantic father from hurting the tiny scientist. Moments later, when Tony explained fully what he'd discovered about the scientist's role in everything, Pepper had turned around and delivered such a powerful slap to Jane that the slighter female had only been saved from landing on her butt on the floor by Thor's supernatural reflexes.

Thor had wisely said nothing, only silently made sure that Jane wasn't too hurt and settled her on the couch where they'd sat in awkward silence ever since. Jane was drowning in her guilt. Her ability to forget everything but her Work had been the reason she hadn't discovered that it had been hours since Darcy had been by her side at the park bench. The scientist had spent valuable time searching for the girl herself without alerting anyone, not willing to drag anyone else in to help because she didn't want to get blamed.

Jane would _never_ forgive herself if anything happened to Darcy and let herself be consumed with her guilt and despair.

Tony had paced the floor restlessly, talking strategy with JARVIS, whose voice sounded surprisingly human in its worry. Holograms with security images from the park played in a loop all around him. The way that Darcy had been surrounded by numerous dark-clad men just as the cameras cut off had aged the billionaire severely as his vivid imagination couldn't keep from wondering what had happened to his kid.

The grainy imagery of Darcy helping some sad homeless man struck a chord in Tony. The reminder of just how his beloved child had spent part of her life always sent a dagger of pain into his already abused heart.

Tony was instantly fiercely proud of the pure goodness that she'd maintained despite everything, but his proud feelings didn't stop him from doing his utmost to find the unidentified man. He may have witnessed something that could locate Darcy.

Hours later, he had to come to the reluctant realization that not even JARVIS' and his combined brilliance and technical knowhow could locate the man. He'd disappeared as though he'd sunk into the earth from one second to the next.

Tony had been all set to go to the park himself to try and locate any as of yet unnoticed clues, but Barton had emerged with an eerie ability to show up whenever he was least expected and announced that he would be the one to do it and tried to force Tony to actually sleep before he left.

Suffice to say the last part wasn't the least bit successful.

Now, more than an hour after Barton had left for the park and his findings – or lack of – had been called in, Tony was _done_. His mind couldn't handle anything else, his heart even less so. There had barely been a day since Darcy had returned where some sort of crisis hadn't taken place and almost taken Darcy away again in one form or another. He was just so tired of everything. As horrible as it sounded, Darcy had almost been safer when she'd been living on the streets and away from him.

He felt numb, and not even his initial burst of wrath toward the irresponsible Foster was enough to maintain him for long. Tony just wanted his kid back in his arms and then he'd never leave her again. Washington disaster be damned.

_I'll find you, Baby-Girl_, Tony thought and sent a fervent prayer toward the God he didn't believe in to make sure she was safe, wherever she was. _Please be okay, I can't do this_ _without you_…

**0o0o0**

It was the pounding in her head that woke Darcy up. Hard earned experience made sure she forced her body's instinctual need to move down as soon as she regained her senses. She used every drop of stubbornness in her to remain still and unassuming, not giving one inch of evidence that she'd woken up.

As the headache quickly travelled into nausea and Darcy's mouth suddenly started producing way too much saliva, she feared her charade would be over before it even really began. And it was as her next breath became too much and with a quick movement, Darcy rolled onto her side and expunged herself rather noisily.

It was official. She _really_ hated getting drugged.

Suddenly, the reality set back in when a big hand wearing ratty-looking fingerless gloves came into her view. She had already scooted backwards frantically and nearly banged her head into some wall before realizing that the hand had merely offered her a water bottle and nothing else.

She felt like some kind of energy sizzled out of her and died as her embarrassment grew. Like a bolt of electricity with nowhere to go. In the next moment, Darcy finally looked at the hand's owner and everything else vanished into the background.

"_You_!" Darcy pointed brashly at the man crouching a few feet away from her.

There was no mistaking it; it was the hobo she'd given money to at the park before everything went to hell. "What! _How_? I…"

The words didn't want to form for a minute as Darcy was a completely overwhelmed with the absurdity of it all. Also, there was a small a part of her that was genuinely hurt that the man she'd only wanted to help was now keeping her hostage.

_Only_... Darcy's last memories before her blackout slowly trickled back; _that may not exactly be the truth_.

The vague fuzzy memories of sounds of a fight came to her as well as the feeling of how she'd been caught safely before falling flat on her face. _And_, she realized, _I'm not tied_ _down or anything. In fact, he's here staying calm and offering me water of all things_.

She just had an instinctive feeling that the water wasn't drugged. Why she felt so sure, Darcy had no idea, but sure she was and that was what made her slowly reach out her hand in a silent bid to get at the bottle. The Hobo slowly moved closer and gently handed her the water without a word. He immediately backed away again and sat down by the opposite wall in the small, unidentifiable and dark room they were in.

Darcy didn't care at the moment, too eager to drink for anything else to really matter. She was _so_ thirsty.

"Drink slower." His hoarse, low voice was such a surprise that it actually managed to halt Darcy from chugging the water. She slowed down, knowing that the man was right. Besides, her stomach was rolling a little from her actions and since she'd already thrown up once that day, she wasn't very keen on repeating the experience.

A few moments later, Darcy withdrew the bottle from her mouth with a sated sigh. She cast a shy glance over at the hobo, who hadn't moved since he'd sat himself down. It was kinda unnerving how still he was to be honest. He wasn't even looking at her; his interest seemed to be wholly focused on his left hand. He was clenching and unclenching it repeatedly.

Darcy wished his cap and hair wasn't doing such a good job of hiding his expressions. She _wanted_ to trust him, but she knew how men thought and couldn't quite stop herself from fearing that he'd want some kind of compensation for helping her escape those other people's clutches. Darcy shuddered. She'd sworn never to pay her debts in _that_ manner ever again.

Fortunately, the hobo's lack of interest in her movements told the girl that she wasn't in any immediate danger and she decided to take a chance to get some answers. She was a Stark after all, and they were nothing if not curious. "Why did you help me?"

The man didn't look away from his hands when he replied; his voice sounding like it rarely got any use. "You helped me first."

Darcy bit her lip and scooted a tiny bit closer in her quest for answers. "Yeah, but that was just common decency. _You_ jumped in and somehow managed to save me from those trained weirdos. I mean, I didn't see it happen, but since you're here and not acting like you want me as your prisoner or anything, I'd say that makes it pretty certain that you were the one helping me. I'm Darcy, what's your name? Also, I'd _really_ like to know why you helped me like that."

Eventually the barrage of questions had to give way for the need to breathe and that was when the hobo at last looked up at her. His eyes were in shadow so she couldn't quite determine the color, but it was enough for her to understand that the man – like her – had seen a lot.

"You are Stark's," he eventually muttered gravelly. "You needed help and H.Y.D.R.A. wanted you so… I don't help them anymore. Call me Ja-Bu… Call me _Sergeant_."

Despite the rather delicate situation, Darcy couldn't stop herself from snorting a little. "Okay, _Sergeant_. Whatever floats your boat. Now, I kinda need a few more answers. How long has it been since I was attacked, I mean, it's gotta be a little while, right and between you and me, I don't really enjoy worrying my father any more than I've already done so…When are you gonna take me home?"

Sergeant Hobo's entire body stiffened and his face undervent such a rapid amount of expressions before settling on determined and Darcy got a _bad_ feeling. He looked ready for battle and Darcy's bad feeling was confirmed when he spoke with a firm tone as if his words were absolutely final.

"You're not going back. You are staying with me."

**0o0o0 **

**TBC… **


	46. The Meltdown

_AN:Sorry for the wait..._

**The Meltdown**

Two weeks later, found Tony at the brink of exhaustion. No stone had been left unturned in his increasingly frantic search for his kid. Within the first week, the rest of the Avengers had trickled back to the tower and was joining the search as well. It was something that Tony would have felt sheepishly grateful for if he wasn't so consumed by his own search that he barely noticed their arrival.

Thor, who still had to make sure that the angry father didn't eventually kill his guilt-ridden Lady Jane, was trying to get Heimdall to help but was being road blocked by his father again and again. When this was all over and Darcy was home, Tony had made serious plans to _address_ that.

Steve along with his new friend, Sam, was scouring the state and the fact that the Captain had set aside his own desperate search for his deranged assassin friend had finally thawed that last bit of resentment that Tony hadn't quite been able to let go of for the PTSD-attack so long ago.

Bruce was tag teaming with Pepper to actually keep the billionaire alive long enough for him to experience his daughter's return. Trying to get the obsessed man to eat, drink and sleep once in a blue moon was a full time job that had them running ragged.

Clint and Natasha were using all of their combined and rather massive underground contacts in their attempts to pry out some new Intel. In that moment, both of them were out of the tower and meeting someone that may or may not know something. They'd decided not to tell Tony as they'd made that mistake before and watched the man nearly crumble under his disappointment when it hadn't panned out. That contact was no longer going to be a problem for _anyone_. Natasha had made sure of that with a viciousness that had shocked Tony back into reality. Considering that the Russian Assassin had barely met Darcy, he couldn't quite understand why she was so ferocious in her assistance.

The thought never crossed his mind that the woman was worried about him and desperate in her own way to keep him safe and sane.

Tony himself was busy with JARVIS in his attempt to see something new in the footage from the park. So far it had been a dead end and for the first time in his life, he'd experienced what it felt like to be average. His intelligence and vast resources were worth _nothing_ for once and he was having increasing trouble handling that.

After two weeks, Tony's body could no longer stand the strain he'd put on it and the lack of anything to sustain him –despite Bruce and Pepper's best efforts – and he started getting dizzy every time he moved. His head was pounding and his hands were shaking more than they'd ever done in his once upon a time stint in rehab after his second overdose. He couldn't think, and more importantly, he couldn't concentrate on his work in finding his daughter and that last bit was what finally broke him.

What good was he if he couldn't even help look for his child? His flesh and blood? He got up from his chair and abruptly started thrashing his work space, ripping things to pieces and throwing delicate monitors into even more valuable objects that surrounded him. Black spots were dancing in his vision and Tony didn't even realize he was crying like a tormented animal, keening loudly from his now kneeling position on the floor.

It was Pepper's arms around him and Bruce's soft yet shocked, voice that finally lured the devastated man into the first real sleep he'd had since leaving for Washington.

**0o0o0**

When Tony returned to consciousness three days later, he was in a hospital bed in his lab. He felt better physically than he'd felt in a long time. His mind was clearer and pain free for the first time since Darcy's disappearance. The IV in his hand was pushing no doubt needed fluids into him and for once, Tony acted responsible and kept it in. He trusted Bruce to not fuck him up. The oxygen mask was a bit much though and that quickly found a new place not on his person. He mentally shuddered at the pitiful sight he no doubt made.

Instead, he slowly sat up and had to smile a little at what he saw. Pepper was crouched in a chair next to him, her long legs folded awkwardly, yet gracefully, and she was sleeping soundly with a lot of papers around her. Bruce was sitting quietly in a corner with his glasses askew and sleeping. He looked tired and so, Tony decided not to bother him.

It was the fact that the rest of the team was in the room as well that had made him smile. The Assassin duo was whispering among themselves from their position by the exit as if calmly guarding it. They nodded briefly when they realized he was once more among the living and continued on with their talk. Steve and Sam were sleeping too, lying on a couple of cots that Tony just knew that Pepper had procured with her usual finesse of getting everything done. Thor was standing over by Jane's side by the computers. They were so engrossed in whatever they were doing that Tony's initial burst of anger at the sight of the scientist near him fizzled out and he actually managed to look closer at the tiny woman for the first time since everything happened.

Jane looked almost as bad as he knew he'd looked before his collapse. And that was _bad_. She was pale and had lost weight that she couldn't really afford to lose in the first place. Her hair was greasy and haphazardly put together in a bun that probably hadn't been touched in weeks. For the first time, Tony felt compassion at the amount of guilt the woman had to be feeling. It was obvious that she regretted ever taking Darcy to the Park and wouldn't rest until she was back.

Tony cleared his throat and managed to croak out softly, "Thor, get your lady love to sleep. She needs it more than I ever did. She can come back and help after no less than four hours."

The look of pure gratitude that Thor sent him, made the emotionally stunted billionaire uncomfortable and he decided to ignore it and get back to work.

"JARVIS," he whispered, trying not to wake his sleeping team, "update me, please."

JARVIS sounded remarkably happy that Tony was sounding more like himself when the A.I. instantly replied, "Mr. Barton and Miss Romanoff have secured a witness that saw the homeless man less than ten minutes after vacating the park."

"Okay," Tony nodded, "and?"

"_And_, Sir," JARVIS answered, "He was carrying a child in his arms that matches Darcy's description."

Tony broke into a genuine smile and swung his legs out of the bed while removing the IV without any regards to his earlier thoughts on leaving it in. "Well," he said and hesitantly got to his feet, feeling out just how much strength he had available to actually walk, "that is the best news I've had in a while, Jay."

"I thought so too, Sir."

"Let's get back to work then." Tony pressed a soft kiss on Pepper's hair as he walked by, feeling a pinch of guilt for once again putting her through the wringer and then took over Jane's abandoned place by the computers and dove right back to work.

**0o0o0**

A few days later, Tony was sitting down to eat with the team. Bruce and Pepper had both upped their game after his stint in medical and forced him to eat regularly. It didn't bother him as much as he thought. Tony knew that he had been acting stupidly and needed to keep himself in good enough shape that he could go out and help his kid at a moment's notice. That didn't mean that he didn't hate every second he was forced to pause his search though.

Pepper rewarded his compliance by making sure that the meals were quick yet filling and let him go as soon as the last bite had been taken. It was a compromise that worked well for everyone.

That evening, Tony was feeling particularly restless, and was practically shoveling in his food. No one objected thankfully. In the middle of the rushed meal, JARVIS suddenly interrupted and everyone froze for a moment when he announced that none other than Darcy was entering the tower.

Tony had never in his life moved so fast. He practically flew down the stairs as he ignored his logic that said that taking the elevator would actually be quicker. The stairs felt like the fastest route and as such, he took it and managed to get to the ground floor even faster than the others in the elevator. It didn't really surprise anyone.

Tony burst out into the main entrance floor, breathing hard and desperately searching for that little girl he would never _ever_ allow to leave his side _ever_ again. He couldn't see her in the crowd and just before he lost his temper and ordered everyone the hell out, a beautiful voice rang out and caught every inch of his attention.

"DADDY!"

A second later, a small form catapulted into his arms and Tony Stark was at long last reunited with his daughter.

**0o0o0 **

**TBC…**


	47. The Plea

_**I don't own Marvel's universe...sadly.**_

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**The Plea**

A metal hand was gently trying to entice its target with the deliciously smelling food in it. Another hand made of flesh was holding onto the target with firmness as if silently ordering the target to do as was wanted.

Sadly for the owner of the mismatched hands, the target was Darcy Stark and she was not good at doing what people wanted of her. _Especially_ when she was being held against her will.

"You know that this would be a lot easier for both of us if you just untied me."

Darcy smiled, carefully keeping her mouth shut after speaking. She wasn't interested in being force-fed, thank you _very_ much. Instead, the Stark heiress widened her eyes and tried to look like butter wouldn't melt in her mouth. Judging from the exasperated look she got out of the Sergeant in return, it wasn't quite working.

"Eat," he ordered. His voice was low and hoarse as usual but with an undertone that bordered on the pleading side. Darcy felt a tiny bit sorry for the man, but he'd brought it on himself when he'd announced that he was the only thing standing between her and a way home to her father.

Darcy was a lot of things, a former and current victim of kidnapping, an abused child in every disgusting manner available and she was above all a survivor. A survivor that had tasted freedom and happiness and there wasn't anything she wasn't willing to do to get it back. Being a bratty hostage and making life difficult for her present kidnapper…well, that was just a bonus.

**0o0o0**

Time went on and Darcy tried not to let her hopes wither and die. It seemed that no matter how bratty or sweet she acted, the Sergeant wasn't having it and the only thing she got out of it was an even closer observation. For Pete's sake, the girl couldn't go to the bathroom without the door open and the man standing with his back turned in the doorway.

In retaliation for the fact that the Sergeant seemed unshakable, Darcy refused to eat in earnest and it wasn't until two days had went by that the man had gripped her tight and forced her mouth open and gotten a cup of soup into her. The instant the liquid had touched her tongue, Darcy forgot all about starving herself, she had had enough of being hungry and, she thought a little ashamed as she practically licked the cup clean, apparently being fed regularly had decreased her ability to forgo meals.

After her appetite had been sated, Darcy finally looked up and met the Sergeant's emotionless eyes. She was a little surprised to see an amused glint in them though, but keeping in mind that he was a douchebag that was keeping her from Tony, she managed to act like she didn't notice.

It was weird that despite him being her capturer, Darcy had no fear of being hurt by him. _Well, aside from the obvious part where he's keeping me from my family_, Darcy amended silently in the next moment.

The Sergeant seemed like he was reading her mind, because his amusement dimmed back into that blankness that she'd begun to hate. Without really realizing it, Darcy mutely decided that come hell or high water, she was gonna break that man from his blankness and back into a human being.

_And_, she thought with a spark of hope,_ then maybe he'll actually let me go home._

**0o0o0**

Darcy was bored. D!

She had no idea really how long she'd been stuck in the crappy warehouse or whatever it was that the Sergeant had hidden them in. He'd disappeared every now and again, but never without chaining Darcy to something and making sure that she couldn't escape. He looked like he hated restraining her whenever he had to leave, but that didn't stop him from actually _doing_ it.

Case in point, the young Stark was sitting on the mattress that the Sergeant had provided for her some odd days earlier and was chained to the wall with some weirdly strong, yet thin, chains that she'd tried everything in her limited power to cut or break.

By now, she'd learned to not try as her wild attempts had only earned her chafed wrists and even more caution from the silent Sergeant.  
Instead, she focused her attention on the very used deck of cards that he'd given her to entertain herself while keeping an eye on the screen across the room.

The Sergeant had earned himself some points the day before when, as she'd bemoaned her boredom loudly, he'd vanished only to reappear hours later with a small, crappy TV that he somehow managed to hook up and get working so she had something to watch. It only had one working channel and it was mostly news related and boring.

Darcy loved it because it gave her something, however slight to focus on.

_Until,_ she heard a female newscaster announce cheerfully that Tony Stark had been impossible to reach for something or other and that the Stark people had revealed he wasn't available due to having a health issue.

There was even a quick scene from some reporter cornering Pepper and Happy outside the tower asking more about it. Pepper merely confirmed the rumor, declined any further questions and left. The impeccable Pepper Potts façade couldn't hide the stress lines in her face nor the barely covered bags under her eyes. Pepper was worried and that more than anything else freaked Darcy out.

In that moment, Darcy decided that she was done being patient and upped her game to escape. There was no doubt in her mind that Tony's health issue was related to her in some way and she was sick of hurting the people she loved.

**0o0o0**

Over the next few days, Darcy knew that she was severely testing her capturer's patience.

There was screaming, there was fighting and when that didn't work, Darcy began trying to escape whenever she saw an opportunity. She'd once again forced herself to stop eating and drinking, causing the Sergeant to force feed her again and this time he wasn't as gentle. Apparently, her behavior was grating on his last nerve.

_Good, that means it's working. He'll throw me out soon._ Darcy thought angrily from her position on the mattress where she'd been chained up ever since her last escape attempt the day before. She'd acted like she'd gotten her period for the first time, crying crocodile tears over cramps just like she'd observed in several TV-shows during her life as an addicted watcher of trashy shows. As soon as the Sergeant had turned his back in the doorway to the bathroom, Darcy had tried stabbing him in the back with a toothbrush she'd painstakingly tried filing down whenever she'd caught a moment of privacy.

It didn't work and in the ensuing scuffle, Darcy had only managed to bite the man's flesh arm and get herself firmly locked down by the mattress in those dratted chains of his.  
Suffice to say that the next bathroom break had been a humiliating experience as the Sergeant had learned not to trust her and refused to even turn his back anymore.

"Drink."

Darcy glared up at the Sergeant, whose long hair was hanging loose and wished she could just yank it like nobody's business. Sadly, she knew from experience that it wouldn't faze him and merely comforted herself by being utterly uncooperative yet again.

There was a glint of something almost like regret in the Sergeant's eyes, but Darcy ignored it and waited on his next move.  
"Drink or I'll force it down your throat again."

That hadn't been a nice experience either; Darcy mentally shuddered and decided to pick her battles. She opened her mouth a bit in a silent show of compliance. The Sergeant held a soda with a straw up to her lips but then stopped to warn her.  
"If you spit this out in my face again, Little Punk, you will not like what happens next. I'm not in the mood for your antics today."

Darcy licked her lips and thought about it. Fortunately for the Sergeant's peace of mind, the girl was actually thirsty and kinda tired of keeping up the anger and decided that he would win that round…for now.

A few moments later, Darcy had emptied the soda can and then decided to show him she was still ready to be as obnoxious as possible by belching him right in the face. Sadly, that merely seemed to amuse the man and she fumed quietly as he went over to his little rickety table in the corner where he was doing something to some of his weapons.

The TV was off and Darcy knew it was her subtle punishment for acting out so much, but she was getting desperate to know any news about her father.

After another hour of doing nothing but watch the Sergeant carefully care for his weapons, and trying to use her brilliant mind to cook up another escape attempt, Darcy folded and decided to do the one thing she hadn't done yet. Something she'd promised herself to never do again, but she was desperate.

"Sergeant?"

_Damn it_, Darcy thought,_ there's no reason for my voice to sound so timid. It's my choice this time so toughen up, you're a Stark!_

The Sergeant looked over at her and Darcy steeled herself. She expertly ignored the wary expression the man wore now whenever he looked at her, there was a reason for that after all.

"If I let you fuck me, will you let me go? Or, if that's not your thing, I've been told I've got a very talented mouth you can use instead."

The Sergeant stilled. Absolutely froze. Darcy had never seen a living person be so still and absentmindedly admired that, before refocusing on the immobile man.  
It took a while before she saw him draw in a breath, apparently, he'd been shocked into forgetting to breathe. His eyes slowly narrowed and Darcy began to feel confused. He didn't exactly look like any of the other men she'd been forced to be with before. His eyes didn't darken with lust and he wasn't panting like a wild animal in heat nor was he moving toward her while his hand was busy opening his zipper.

"Sergeant?" Darcy asked hesitantly. If he didn't take her offer, she had no idea what else to do and she wanted to go back to the Tower before something truly terrible happened to her father. No one had _ever_ declined her services before…

"Did Stark teach you to act like…Did he do anything to you?" The Sergeant's voice was brimming with anger that the soon-to-be teenager couldn't understand. _He_ was the bad guy here, not her dad!

"Dad is the best thing that's ever happened to me. He's never hurt me and I know he's worried sick about me right now and I want to go home. Please let me go home…I _promise_ I'll make it good and I won't even cringe or cry or anything, I'm good at not moving, I learned that pretty fast. Just please, let me do this so I can go home. I wanna go home, _please_…" Darcy's voice cracked and she felt damnable tears well up in her eyes and she angrily wiped them away, eager to hear if her desperate plea had worked.

The Sergeant sat frozen for another long moment, making Darcy's heart pound excessively in fear. Then, at long last, the man got to his feet. Darcy immediately ripped off her t-shirt eager to get the show on the road, but before she could undress any further, a cold metallic hand stopped her.

"Don't even think about it, Kid." The order was gruff and harsh, but the Sergeant looked pale and a little nauseated by her actions so Darcy did as she was told. Next thing she knew, Darcy was thrown unceremoniously over the Sergeant's shoulder and without another word, the man quickly armed himself and turned to leave.

Despite the prospect of finally leaving her hated room, Darcy started struggling. She worried that her actions had driven the man over the edge and that he was going to finally kill her. So intent on getting free was Darcy that she didn't realize she was keening like a wounded animal and crying until, suddenly, the Sergeant put her down and enveloped her in his arms. The flickering lights above them returned to normal unnoticed.

"Stop it, Little Punk," he sounded surprisingly emotional, "I'm not gonna hurt ya. I only wanted to keep ya safe. Come on now, breathe slowly 'fore ya make yerself sick."  
The sudden accent in the usually so monotone man managed to bring Darcy back to the reality and she slowly relaxed in his arms. For some unfathomable reason, he felt safe to her.

"What happens now, Sergeant?" she whispered after a quiet while.

The Sergeant sighed heavily and carefully got back to his feet with her still in his arms. "Now," he replied softly, "I take you home."

**0o0o0**

It didn't take long to reach the tower. Darcy was seemingly alone as the Sergeant had bid her goodbye and made her promise to take better care of herself in the future before reaching her destination. They both ignored the fact that he'd been the one to capture her after the incident in the park instead of taking her to Jane.

Seemingly alone or not, Darcy knew he was around keeping an eye on her and something told her that it wasn't the last she'd seen of the mysterious hobo sergeant.

None of that really mattered in that moment though, because at long last Darcy ran through the tower's main entrance. She was eager to locate her father and see how bad his illness was. The girl prayed it wasn't too serious, he had a weaker constitution than average already due to the reactor in his chest.

Then, mere minutes after Darcy entered the main floor of the Tower, pushing uncaringly through the mass of people in her haste for the elevators, she saw the person she longed for most of all and all her joy and relief came spilling out.

"DADDY!"

The young girl didn't care that she'd unconsciously revealed her secret wish to call Tony dad. All she cared about was the fact that she was home again and more importantly that her dad was frantically running to her side to grab her into his trembling arms where she belonged.

**0o0o0**

**TBC…**


	48. The Filler

**The Filler**

Being back home was _awesome_, Darcy decided as she slowly woke from sleep a few days after the Sergeant had taken her home. She was thrilled to once again be by her dad's side and more importantly, she could now better monitor his health. There was no denying that her disappearance had aged the billionaire.

He had a hint of grey at his temples that he staunchly pretended didn't exist and woe_ anyone_ who mentioned its presence. His face was a little gaunt as well, but Darcy had seen just how focused Pepper and Dr. Hulk was on returning Tony's weight to the normal scale so she quickly decided to butt out of that before she risked that they turned their attention on her own too slight figure.

Ever since she'd tackled Tony in the main entrance hall at the tower and then subsequently suffered a tackle-hug of her own from Pepper when they arrived back up in the penthouse, Darcy had been within eyesight of her dad at all times.

No, wait that wasn't quite right. Darcy amended in her mind and stretched like a cat with a sigh of pure contentment. She was no longer only within her dad's reach, but someone from his team was pretty much always nearby.

At first, it had been a little weird. Especially since one of those that were the most adamant in his subtle protection was Steve. The last time they'd actually seen each other, she'd stopped Tony from kicking him out of the tower after he'd accidentally sort of choked her half to death.

She hadn't spent a lot of time with any of the other Avengers, aside from Thor and Dr. Hulk. These days the Norse God wasn't the same funny guy she'd known before her disappearance. Thor had been as devastated and guilt-ridden as Jane, who'd spent nearly ten minutes crying off of her shoulder when Darcy had first returned, so he was a little hesitant in getting too close to her again as a self-proclaimed way of showing repentance.

It _sucked_ and the young Stark had already quietly decided to kick some sense into the male if he didn't wise up real soon. He was majorly smart and the stories he told about the court where he was raised was interesting as nothing else and Darcy kind of missed the times the two of them had spent together in the kitchen, eating poptarts and chatting about politics in an alien realm. He made it seem cool and funny and never talked down to her and he made her feel like she could completely handle herself in the Asgardian Court.

So…yeah…there'd be kicking involved if the Norse God didn't wise up soon.

Thor and Steve weren't the only ones that were acting out of character. Natasha, the Black Widow was weirder too. Usually the redhead and she didn't cross paths that much. Darcy had always felt like the woman was uncomfortable around her and in turn felt shy herself whenever her dad had taken her with him to the Tower's common areas. These days though, the spy was eyeing her intensely whenever she walked into a room. It kinda felt like she was checking out her potential and observing her in case of further kidnapping attempts all in one.

Coming from a woman that used to ignore you, and could probably kill you in a hundred different ways, it was rather eerie.

Clint was pretty much the only one acting normal. He had high-fived her the first morning she'd walked into the communal kitchen with her dad by her side and congratulated her on being a little badass.

Darcy liked him more than any of the others these days.

JARVIS' smooth voice interrupted her silent musings, and Darcy smiled up at the attic in reflex as she clumsily tried dressing and greeting him simultaneously.

"Good morning, Miss Darcy. The sun is shining; it will be a nice day today. No immediate disasters have occurred during your rest. Your father and Miss Potts are downstairs in the communal areas with Captain Rogers, Misters Banner, Barton and Miss Romanoff."

"Great." Darcy muttered and rushed out to the bathroom. She had never loved it more than after her time with the Sergeant and that dingy room that shared a name with the haven that was her personal bathroom. In the middle of brushing her teeth and battling her irritatingly fluffy hair into submission, Darcy felt a small rush of sadness at the thought of the mysterious hobo Sergeant that had both saved and infuriated her.

She kinda missed him, and secretly she hoped that her father's eagle eye managed to overlook his whereabouts as she didn't really want anything bad to happen to him. Aside from some episodes, the man _had_ been nice and despite everything, Darcy had a gut feeling that he was tormenting himself with something way worse than whatever revenge schemes her dad had been cooking up.

A flash of his eyes, haunted and sad, flew through Darcy's mind and she had to forcibly shake the image out and refocus on her morning rituals. She had to go make sure that Tony was eating and not being too exhausted to let her tag along with him for the rest of the day after all.

**0o0o0**

Ten minutes later, Darcy all but ran down to the floor where JARVIS had said they were eating a shared breakfast. Tony immediately broke out into a beaming grin at the sight of her and she flew to his side with an answering grin of her own.

"That is just too cute for words," Darcy heard Clint murmur, a teasing tone in his voice. Without thinking, Darcy flashed him a nice long finger that gained an outraged gasp from Pepper.

"Darcy Maria, you did _not_ just do that, am I clear?"

The girl ducked her head sheepishly and shrugged. Tony's chuckle in her ear told her that he too found it amusing, but Pepper's disapproval was too heavy for the soon –to-be teenager to grin as well. She quietly apologized and released a sigh of relief when Pepper immediately forgave her and handed over a deliciously-looking plate of pancakes and bacon. Judging from the amount, it seemed like the redhead was back on her quest to fatten Darcy up, but she wisely chose not to say anything against it.

Steve smiled a little and Darcy had a feeling he was reading her mind, so she shrugged with a small smile of her own before diving in. The Captain had tentatively (and under Tony's watchful gaze) suggested that she give a description of the Sergeant so they could find him and she felt more and more awkward as she tried avoiding it. She privately felt relieved that her avoidance hadn't made him go back to ignoring her.

A few minutes later, Tony clapped his hands and eyed her cheerfully. "So, Baby-girl, what's on the menu for today?"

"Can I go with you and help you with some of your projects?"

Tony leaned forward, his grin bordering on the manic side in his obvious happiness. "Can you go with me and help me with some projects? Of course, I doubt I'd get anything done without you there to distract DUMMY and YOU for starters."

Darcy shrugged, she couldn't deny her love for the ancient bots. "What about BUTTERFINGERS?" she asked curiously.

"Well, BUTTERFINGERS is well-behaved, most have been sober when I did the coding."

"_Tony_!"

"Sorry, Pep, what I meant to say what, I was probably not inebriated when I—"

The slap to the billionaires scalp sounded rather loud, but it was quickly dwarfed by the oh-so-manly yelp that Tony emitted.

"Anyhoo," Tony picked up their earlier thread of conversation easily, "you can always come with me, Baby-Girl, and you know that."

Darcy nodded and looked down at her half-consumed breakfast, feeling shy all of the sudden. It didn't matter how long she'd known her father. His honest and vocal expressions of love toward her were so precious to her and made her heart flutter in her chest. Was it any wonder that she loved the guy?

Pepper suddenly cleared her throat in a way that made it clear she was about to say something Important. Darcy shared a cautious glance with Tony and the other people at the table suddenly seemed to have other things to do right that instant and vanished with the speed that seemed natural in an Avenger.

"Now what I'm about to say may not be what either of you wants to hear, but I have to warn you that I have begun proceedings to find the perfect teacher to homeschool Darcy until she's ready to begin actual schooling with other kids her age. The interviews for the personal-teacher-position starts tomorrow and I'd really appreciate it if you could join me in finding the perfect fit."

Darcy and Tony sat frozen, their mouths agape and eyes widened in a way that made their slight resemblance clear as day. There was a long, tense moment of eerie silence. Pepper braced herself for the unavoidable onslaught and barely managed to keep her impassive expression when the two Starks erupted into sound in unison.

"WHAT?"

**0o0o0**

**TBC…**


	49. The Familiar Name and Oncoming Storm

**The Familiar Name and Oncoming Storm**

Time went on as it had a habit of doing and for the first time in a long while, everything was quiet and peaceful in the Stark home.

Six months had passed after the Sergeant returned her and Darcy had finally settled into her new life as the Stark Heir. She had turned thirteen, celebrated said birthday like it was going out of style and despite her initial caution (read, massive disgust) toward her schooling, it had all worked out pretty well.

She'd even gained a couple of friends although neither was particularly close outside of school as they all came from rather famous families and had their own lives to live. It didn't bother Darcy that none of her school friends came home for sleepovers and such mundane things. In a way the teenager felt above it all; she'd probably lived more in her thirteen years than any of her classmates combined, spoiled as they were.

Of course, having gotten used to sleepovers and movie nights that involved one or more member from the Avengers team…well, Darcy really doubted any of her school friends could live up to _that_.

"Hey Darcy- have a great weekend!"

Darcy smiled, returning to the present and replied with a friendly tone the various greetings she got as she made her way out to the patiently waiting Happy. He was standing by the Stark limo alongside a whole line of other limos with other waiting staff members for the other wealthy kids that went to her very prestigious private school.

"Hiya Happster," Darcy grinned and jumped into the car. Happy's fond grumble at her nickname went ignored as usual and she quickly settled down and finished the last of her homework during the twenty minute car ride back home. She wanted to spend her weekend with Tony without any assignments hanging over her head.

The two Starks had quickly come to learn that ignoring homework of any kind was a pretty bad idea when Pepper was involved. The woman was fierce in making sure she was a model student.

**0o0o0**

An hour later, Darcy was sitting next to her dad on the couch where they were in the middle of discussing the day they'd been forced to spend away from each other.  
Their codependency had, Darcy reluctantly agreed and only in her own mind, been helped greatly by Pepper's idea of going to school. They had slowly learned to be away from each other without immediately going through panic attacks and several calls a day just to check up on each other. Now they were down to one call during lunch and a few texts throughout the day

Pepper was proud of them and had even called off the shrinks that she'd had waiting in the wings after the first argument about Darcy going to school. The young teenager had no doubt though that said shrinks would be back immediately if they didn't keep up their good behavior and that was all the incentive either of them needed.

"…and then he glared at me and all the little scientist minions started having conniptions and tried to flee en masse just in case Big Green and Beautiful showed up."

Darcy smiled, leaning her head on Tony's shoulder. "Maybe you should be a little bit better at remembering that Dr. Hulk is…You know, Hulk."

"What fun would that be, Daughter of mine? Besides," Tony shrugged carelessly, "we both know that he's got a lot more control than people and he himself gives him credit for."

Humming in agreement, Darcy slowly sat back up to greet Pepper as the woman entered a few moments later. She looked serious and from Darcy's experience that was never really a good thing.

"Tony, we need to talk."

Tony froze and since she was so close to him, the sensation reverberated through Darcy as she looked closely between the two adults. When Pepper added a quiet, yet firm,"_Now_, Tony," the billionaire sighed and turned to Darcy.

"We'll only be a minute, Baby-Girl."

Darcy's eyes tracked them out of the room. She waited one agonizingly long minute before looking upwards. "JARVIS?"

"Yes, Miss Darcy?"

"Be a great A.I. and hook me up, please."

JARVIS' voice bore a hint of exasperation as he replied, "I presume you want to listen in on your father's _private_ conversation?"

Nodding with an innocent grin on her face, Darcy clasped her hands together as if in prayer. "Please, sweet, darling JARVIS?"

"If I had eyes, Miss Darcy, they would be rolling, I assure you. I can inform you that the conversation is not about you but an old acquaintance of Sirs that is getting released prematurely from prison."

"Oh," Darcy bit her lip for a moment before asking seriously. "Is that gonna be a problem for him? I mean, I've kinda gotten used to the peace and quiet around here."

"Oh no, Miss Darcy. I assure you that Mr. Hammer's competence is rather limited compared to Sir. Do not fret. I have taken the liberty of asking Captain Rogers to arrive a few minutes earlier for your session. He's in route as we speak."

Darcy lost the frown she'd gained at JARVIS' news. For some reason the name sounded familiar to her, but she had no idea why. Shaking it off, she jumped off the couch and ran to her room to grab her drawing utensils for her lesson with Steve.

The Captain had slowly, but surely become one of Darcy's favorite people after he'd stopped acting like she was a delicate flower. The fear she'd once felt whenever he was around seemed laughable to the girl now. He was adorably gentle outside of Avengering times and surprisingly snarky which meant that Darcy would treasure him forever of course.

Tony had allowed Steve to begin teaching her to draw after Darcy had expressed interest in it and declined any other instructor. Naturally he'd promised Steve a painful death if there ever was a repeat performance of the Incident as she'd begun naming it in her head. Steve had eagerly agreed to never hurting her again and the two of them loved their sessions now, chatting idly about everything and nothing.

Darcy _particularly_ enjoyed hearing about his former team, The Howling Commandos and his best friend, Bucky. He sounded so awesome and she knew that if she'd been a normal kid, she'd probably have gotten a girl crush on the man despite his being dead for so long. After realizing the genuine interest Darcy had in his best friend, Steve had even promised to show her a few of his drawings of him sometime.

That 'sometime' was _today_ and Darcy couldn't wait to finally see how her imagination compared to the real thing.

**0o0o0**

**TBC…**


	50. The Electrifying Realization

**The Electrifying Realization**

Tony's day was going from good to bad to worse and it was all because of the news that Pepper had just given him.

"Look Pep," he practically growled in his rather impotent anger, "I pay a lot of _very_ expensive lawyers' way too much money for them to let that piece of shit go free prematurely."

Pepper nodded mutely, her own eyes silently expressing just how much she too disagreed with the decision to let Hammer go. "The prison was adamant that he'd changed and showed nothing but the best behavior while incarcerated," she tried to reason despite her own feelings. She rather desperately wanted to calm Tony down as he had a habit of acting rashly when he was agitated and she didn't feel like dealing with yet _another_ lawsuit….

"Good behavior my ass," Tony rolled his eyes and crossed his arms while his mouth was set in a pout that no person should do over the age of five. It was adorable to his fiancé, but she wisely decided against saying anything as Tony kept speaking. "I'll bet he's bought off the entire place for early release or some crap like that. He's not smart enough to actually change; he's too greedy and ambitious."

"Yeah," Pepper agreed with a small frustrated sigh of her own, "after I testified at his hearing, he had the audacity to claim that he'd actually helped us stop Vanko. He kept saying that if he hadn't assisted us, we'd have lost everything and that shows that he's not the least bit sorry for his actions. I mean, people died that day, Tony."

Tony looked at her with an almost lost look in his eyes, as if the continuous injustice in the world kept on shaking his core beliefs but before he could say anything else or give Pepper any pointers as how to throw a few complications Hammer's way, some loud noises erupted from the living room where Darcy and Steve were in the middle of their session.

Simultaneously, JARVIS' announced that there was trouble in the room and the A.I's tone sounded impossibly worried in the few seconds it was heard before some unexplainable wavering in the electric systems suddenly began.  
The lights flickered and Tony burst into movement before Pepper even managed to take one step.

The sight that met the duo was shocking to say the least.

At the massive living room table with folders, drawing utensils and papers strewn all about, sat Darcy, her tiny form grabbed harshly by a practically deranged-looking Steve. His large hands were around Darcy's small upper arms and it looked like he'd been in the middle of some heavy duty shaking for some reason.

It took a moment for Tony's usually sharp mind to catch on to the problem. His initial burst of rage at the sight of his team member laying his hands on Darcy yet again fueled it like nothing else. Then the father realized that Steve was no longer forcing his touch on Darcy, no; he was desperately trying to escape it as she seemingly electrocuted him.

The numerous occasions with flickering lights and inexplicable technical glitches around Darcy rushed through Tony's mind and he suddenly understood what was happening. Susanna's x-gene and Bruce's warnings as they forced that medicine into Darcy's body as they tried to heal her after she nearly died.

Thinking quickly, Tony looked around fervently and then hurriedly grabbed the nearest blanket from the closest couch and hurried over to his daughter. Darcy's face was stuck in a silent scream, her eyes wide and unseeing as they focused on a twitching Steve. Her hands held up against his forearms as if in the frozen process of trying to escape him.  
Within a blink of an eye, Tony threw the blanket over Darcy and with all of his might then began dragging the two apart, safe from the volts that seemed to shoot straight through Steve's veins.

As soon as the father and daughter toppled backwards to the floor awkwardly, the lights stabilized and Steve fell forward on his face with a pained groan, not moving from where he landed.

Tony's very vindictive fatherly side decided that was a good thing. "What the _hell_ just happened?" He then barked to no one, not expecting anyone to answer as he sat on the floor holding his shuddering kid close.

Any and all signs of electrical disturbances had disappeared and if it wasn't for the still panting Captain on the floor in front of him and the smell of ozone in the air, Tony wouldn't have believed what he'd just seen.

He held Darcy close, waiting for her shaking to subside so they could talk but then he realized she wasn't just trembling but weeping silently. She was drawing in big gasping breaths and releasing mute sobs that shook her entire body and Tony focused on comforting her before pursuing any answers.

"JARVIS, what happened?" Pepper's voice drew Tony back to the present and he watched silently as his fiancé crouched beside Steve and checked on him efficiently. Tony once again thanked whomever it was that decided to throw Pepper into his life, the woman could handle a crisis like no one else – _especially_ when Tony himself was too emotional to do much of anything.

Then he forgot all about that when he listened to JARVIS' narrative of the events and clutched Darcy closer while privately promising himself that he and Steve needed to have a little _talk_ about lashing out on his kid when he got unexpected news.

**0o0o0**

**TBC…**


	51. The Familiar Face

**The Familiar Face**

Darcy was confused, scared and a little hurt when Steve froze and simultaneously glared harshly down at her as soon as she muttered out "Sergeant" and ran a hand down the face on the drawing. A drawing that was a perfect illustration of her savior turned kidnapper turned savior again, the hobo sergeant. It was also the face of one deceased legend, Bucky Barnes. Captain America's best friend.

And, Darcy quickly realized when Steve came back to life and turned toward her with an eager look on his face, it seemed like said best friend had understood a lot in no time at all.

All the Avengers knew the nickname that Darcy had gifted the Sergeant with and apparently, Steve's intellect was a good as people said as he connected a lot of dots instantly. Now he seemed to want Darcy to draw a line between those dots and sooner rather than later evidently, as his large hands gripped her arms rather roughly in his eagerness.

"What did you just say, Darcy? Is this the man that saved you? Did _Bucky_ save you? Do you know where he is? I know you've been protecting him ever since he took you back here. Tell me where he is, Darcy! Now! Tell me _everything_!"

"Ow, Steve. You're hurting me," Darcy complained softly, frightened by the almost wild look in the Captain's eyes. He was no longer her gentle giant-y friend. He was acting like a man possessed and Darcy's once upon a time very active survival instinct was battling between instant submission to calm him down or trying to escape to somewhere safe.

"Stark, I'm _not_ in the mood for games. Tell me where Bucky is RIGHT NOW!"

Darcy's teeth practically rattled when Steve's yell culminated with him shaking her back and forth roughly. She tried to call for help, but everything blurred and there was a flash of pain as she bit her tongue in her attempts to speak. The force of his touch made it impossible for the young teenager to do much of anything but hope for safety and swallow down the coppery taste of blood.

Her insides were screaming for the one person that always made her feel safe (_Dad. Dad!_ DAD!) even as her earlier experiences told Darcy that no one would come and she had to deal with the situation alone. She automatically – and to no effect whatsoever – tried forcing the Captain's arms away by gripping his arms to push.

Then things abruptly changed. A rush of unexpected warmth flew through Darcy with no prior warning, cutting through the acid cloud of fear that was dominating her every thought and before she knew what was happening, she felt the Captain's hands clamp even harder down on her skin and he froze with his mouth opened and eyes widened.

It didn't take long for Darcy to understand that something was _very_ wrong and that somehow she was the one now hurting the Captain. It scared her how the first thing a vicious, vindictive part of her thought was that it was amazing to be the one bringing the pain for once. She _liked_ it; the sight of the Captain now in obvious agony fed some deep dark part of her that Darcy instinctively knew was wrong and she fought it off with everything she had even while continuing doing whatever it was to the twitching Captain.

_Let me go_, she thought to male and tried yanking away to no avail,_ let me go. Let me go! DAD!_

Suddenly, something blocked her vision of the Captain and she felt arms wrap around her middle to drag her away and then everything stopped. The unexplainable current that she'd felt rushing through her seconds prior disappeared as if it had never existed and Darcy took a deep breath and let in the taste of blood and scent of Tony – because of _course_ he was the one holding her – and immediately broke into tears.

Something was terribly wrong with her, she was a _monster_ and Darcy desperately hoped that her father wouldn't kick her out after hurting his friend._ Please don't stop hugging_ _me_, she begged silently of her trembling father, gripping his expensive shirt tightly in her frantic pursuit to stay close to him. _Please don't leave me even though I'm evil_…

**0o0o0**

Over the next two days, Darcy absolutely refused to leave her room or more specifically, her closet. She'd barricaded herself in there with mountains of pillows and blankets, wearing nothing but her favorite T-shirt that her dad had dressed her in after carrying her to her room and underwear. Tony was the only one allowed inside her little safe-haven, not even a worried Pepper could grace the line into her sanctuary without causing the younger Stark to fall into a panic attack that always caused electrical disturbances and pure exhaustion to Darcy for hours afterwards.

It was as if now that her weird abilities were out in the open, nothing could stuff them back into obscurity and it scared the daylights out of Darcy and she was terrified of hurting anyone else like she'd done with Steve, no; The Captain. He was not a friend anymore – a first name showed trust and Darcy's trust was broken and…

She sighed heavily, burrowing down underneath her blankets as the memory of the groaning Steve entered her mind yet again. She could no longer in good conscience call him by his name. A friend didn't harm another friend and secretly liked it, however briefly.

What no one seemed to realize was that most of Darcy's fear was due to her having relished in hurting the Captain than any real worry about repeating it. She was a bad person and this whole thing just cemented it in Darcy's mind.

On top of all those mixed emotions, Darcy couldn't deny that she was a little bit mad at the Captain and his unnecessary strong reaction to her seeing the drawing of her hobo sergeant…Bucky Barnes or whomever he was. It wasn't _her_ fault that the dude looked like someone who'd been dead for a gazillion years after all.

The logical part of her realized that her enjoyment and anger were closely linked - she had suffered a lot in her life and having yet another person trying to hurt her and actually being able to stop it was almost addictive. That logical part though wasn't very prominent, buried under mountains of guilt as it was and Darcy easily tuned it out in her misery.

"Baby-Girl?"

Darcy started back into reality at her dad's soft voice. She heard his footsteps draw nearer and a moment later, he stuck his head through the small opening she'd allowed into her main bedroom.

"Hey," Tony's expression was serious, the dark circles under his eyes beginning to be a little too prominent for Darcy's peace of mind and she knew she'd have to get over herself before her dad worried himself into an early grave.

"Don't bother trying to get me out of here today," Darcy warned and added as she slowly sat up, "I'll get out tomorrow and face whatever punishment you think I deserve."

To her surprise, Tony actually had the gall to chuckle at her words, but the annoyance she felt at that disappeared when he spoke.

"Well, that's an easy thing to figure out, Darce, 'cause you aren't getting punished on my watch."

Darcy leaned forward with a slight frown marring her face. "Why not? I'm a _freak_ and in case you forgot; I hurt the Captain."

"Darcy Maria, don't _ever_ speak that way about yourself ever again. Do I make myself clear?" for the first time since Darcy could remember, her father was actually using a stern parental voice on her and the whole thing bamboozled her into silence.

Clearly, her confusion was a little too obvious because Tony simply sighed and sat down next to her and started talking.  
"I know I've mentioned this before, Kiddo, but your mother was the most amazing woman in the world. I swear she lit up a room wherever she went. She was kind to everyone and could see something good in anybody around her."

Darcy smiled a little, her bad mood seeping away as soon as Tony's story began. She loved learning about her mother and seeing the way Tony's face transformed into something soft and yearning, yet happy every time he spoke of her. Without really noticing how, Darcy was soon sitting with her head resting on her father's shoulder with his arms around her as he continued his story.

"Susanna loved to laugh and make other people laugh – especially me. She would give you her shirt off her back if she thought you needed it. Don't get me wrong here, she was a temperamental woman that could blow up like a fuse box designed by DUMY. She was downright deadly later on in her pregnancy, but she was so adorably horrified at her actions afterwards when she calmed down that I never could stay properly mad at her... Now," Tony's tone once again turned serious as he glanced down at her. "Does _that_ woman sound like a freak to you?"

"No, of course not," Darcy sat back up so she could fully lock gazes with her father. A moment later, his serious façade cracked into a carefree smile. "What's so funny, Tony?"

Tony explained with a shrug and started getting back on his feet. "She had a gift like you. Nowhere near your strength though, but if you call yourself a freak, please remember that your mom was every bit as _special_ as you are and she was anything but a freak."

"Oh."

Once again, Tony grinned and held out a hand for her to take, "yeah, '_oh_' indeed, Baby-Girl. Now, let's go to the kitchen and get some real grub that Pep has paid some fancy smancy chef to cook for us and then we'll deal with the whole Sergeant and Rogers thing. Deal?"

Darcy hesitated for one brief moment, but then reached out and clasped her dad's hand firmly and let him pull her to her feet. "Deal."

**0o0o0**

**TBC…**


	52. The Fallout

**The Fallout**

The last few days had been pretty exhausting for everyone in the tower – especially for Tony. He'd barely slept as he'd held a silent vigil by his kid's side and on top of that he'd spent a fair amount of energy reminding Steve just how bad an idea it was to lay a hand on those Tony loved. Twice.

As soon as Darcy had been relatively calm and squared away in her self-chosen little hidey hole in her bedroom closet, Tony had returned to Steve's apartment where he was slowly recovering from whatever the hell it was that Darcy had done to him.

Tony didn't bother knocking before entering Steve's space. JARVIS silently unlocked the door before he could even ask. The Captain was reclining gingerly on his couch, but seemed to straighten into focus at Tony's entrance.

Steve hadn't even managed one word before Tony had clocked him wearing one glove from his suit. The force of that blow landed the eldest Avenger onto the floor and within seconds, Tony was on him again.

Realistically, the enraged father knew that if Steve had been at full strength it wouldn't have been so easy to hurt the other man, but there was no doubt in his mind that full strength or not, Tony would've found a way regardless.

Ten minutes later, when there was a satisfying amount of blood and blossoming bruises, Tony stopped and got back on his feet. Steve was lying on the ground and breathing harshly. Their eyes locked and it was only the dawning shame on the Captain's face that stopped Tony from doing something more permanent. He'd always wanted to see if the Serum could regenerate torn off limbs after all…

"Don't _ever_ look at Darcy again, Rogers. If you ever talk to her again without _her_ initiating the conversation, JARVIS and I will make what she did to you look like a nice relaxing day at the spa. Am I clear?"

"Tony…" Steve slurred, his jaw seemingly a little bit broken and very painful-looking, as he tried sitting up. He stopped trying when Tony's foot landed on his chest and pushed him back down again ruthlessly.

"Am I _clear_, Captain Rogers?"

There was a long moment of silence wherein all of Steve's emotions was almost audible in their intensity, but finally, Steve hadn't been able to look the enraged father in the eye any longer and Tony took that as agreement before leaving the suite as quickly as he'd arrived.

Now, days later, the rest of the team were trying to deal with the fallout. Steve's injuries had already almost healed up and it made Tony very eager to repeat his actions whenever he laid eyes on him. Natasha was the only one that didn't act any different, but then again; she'd been closest to Steve and Clint since the get-go.

Clint himself was staying out of everything by keeping to himself and Thor wasn't at the Tower these days as he still used a lot of his time getting Jane to forgive herself for letting Darcy out of her sight. Bruce was…well, Bruce tended to turn a little more green around the gills whenever he looked too long at the quiet Captain, but otherwise he was almost normal.

**0o0o0**

So the Avengers were each of them dealing in their own way. It was early morning and Tony walked into the communal kitchen to grab a cup of coffee instead of waiting the time it took to brew a fresh pot upstairs in his own home. Afterwards he fully planned to go back to Darcy and finally try to get her out of that damned closet and back into the real world.

The sight of Steve sitting quietly at the kitchen table and amiably eating while listening to Natasha, sent a wave of anger through Tony, but he managed to beat it down. Instead of reacting externally, he silently walked over to the pot of pure bliss standing ready to fill his empty mug.

The tension seemed to rise immediately when the billionaire simply ignored the two at the table and cheerfully greeted a tired-looking Bruce standing with his head in a book and clearly busy scrambling something way too healthy-looking on the stove.

Apparently, him ignoring Steve seemed to snap something inside of the Black Widow because he heard her get to her feet amidst of Steve's insistent, "Nat, _don't_." Plastering on a fake-cheery façade, Tony turned to face the dangerous woman.

"Good morning, Natalie. How's the Bird? Haven't seen him today and I've almost finished his new set of arrows and we need to schedule testing time."

"Stark," Natasha interrupted coldly, her eyes looking equally cool as she continued, "It's been long enough. You need to man up and act like an adult. You're overreacting and it's interfering with the team's functionality and if this continued you have to remember that you're not irreplaceable."

An odd sense of calm grew inside of Tony as he stood quietly listening to his teammate's tirade. Everyone that really knew him could've warned her that it wasn't a good sign when Tony Stark got quiet.

He smiled emptily and took one step closer to the woman, who didn't seem to think she'd said anything wrong at all. Well, that was about to change if he had anything to do with it.

"I'm overreacting, you say? My kid, my most precious person in the whole world has lived a life of abuse for _ten_ years. She's been forced to engage in sexual encounters with men that not even Lucifer himself would hang out with. I guess I was naïve when I thought you of all people would know that the kind of life she's been forced to lead since she was two years old is horrible. You have experienced the fear of doing things as a kid with your former employers and had things done to you that no one should ever have. Then she comes home to me and is instantly assaulted numerous times and kidnapped again. She's hurt over and over again and just as I made progress with her ability to trust strangers; strange men, she's attacked again simply because she's seen a man alive that should've died ages ago. So, sure, Romanoff," Tony smirked, his anger raging through his eyes, "I'm overreacting."

Tony slowly filled his cup and took one sip before straightening to go back upstairs to hold his exhausted kid and maybe get her to rejoin the living as he'd planned. Before he left the kitchen, Tony turned again and eyed the frozen assassin. "Also, I think you need to remember that I may be replaceable on the team, but that doesn't matter to me anymore. I don't need you – you need _me_. Or who else is gonna pay for everything, huh? If you don't like how I act toward the man who repeatedly hurt my daughter you're free to leave. In fact I want you to get the hell out and tell Fury I'm done as of right now. I don't need people like you on my side."

With that last parting remark, Tony left, leaving behind three shell-shocked people and one assassin who realized that she'd just majorly screwed everything up even more.

**0o0o0**

**TBC**…


	53. The Aftershock

**The Aftershock**

Time suddenly exploded for Darcy and things seemed to propel into action all around her.

The day after she'd been convinced by her dad to actually leave her self-confined hidey hole, the Tower was all but abandoned by the other Avengers. Only Dr. Hulk was left and after one quick initial smile, he too hurried away to spend time in his lab as if her very presence scared him.

When questioned about it, Tony adamantly denied that the good doctor was afraid of her and told her that in fact the fear and apprehension she was picking up was more directly aimed toward Tony himself.

"What do you mean?" Darcy asked as she gratefully accepted a box of Chinese food that a beaming Pepper handed her. The older female seemingly bursting with joy that Darcy had finally left her closet.

Tony sighed and put down his chop-sticks before answering with an unusual tone of seriousness to his voice. "I had a disagreement about certain matters with my so-called team and reminded them that unlike them, _I_ don't have a boss."

"Aaaand?" Darcy asked, crossing her arms for good measure. She had a feeling that the disagreement was somehow related to her and knew from Tony's earlier bouts of protectiveness that it wasn't as simple as he made it out to be.

"And," Tony shrugged and stole one of her spring rolls, "I kicked them out, left the team to return to my more recommended solo career. The end. Now, what do you say we go run some funny little tests to see whether or not your abilities run a health risk to you? I'd hate for your gift to end up harming you – Your mom was always extremely tired whenever she used hers."

No matter how much Darcy begged or prodded, Tony refused to speak more on the subject of his former team and after a while, the teenaged girl realized that she actually felt a little safer not having the Captain around. She feared what she might subconsciously do to him if they ever met again. The haunted look in the Sergeant's sad eyes kept flashing through her mind whenever the Captain's angry visage filled her with fear and she would always help her mystery friend if he wanted to keep avoiding the national icon that used to be his friend.

Now, nearly a month after the Avengers had lost Tony as a member, things were still crazy. Fury had come by not long after Tony didn't respond to a call to suit up. Wisely, the grim-looking man had kept a safe distance from the viciously glaring Darcy that was never far from her father's side. He seemed to vividly recall their last meeting as well as she did.

"What the _hell_ are you thinking?" The black man asked angrily.

Tony sat down next to Darcy and placed a calming hand on the back of her neck when the lights suddenly started flickering at the man's tone.

"Be careful, Fury – You may be a badass devil everywhere else, but I seriously doubt that you're immune to electricity. Now," Tony continued before the older man could even open his mouth again, "as for your question; I'm thinking a lot of things all the time but I guess you're referring to my lack of participation at the latest group adventure down town earlier today?"

Fury nodded, his eye cautiously running between a silently seething Darcy, the wavering lights and an eerily serene-looking Tony. "Yes, the world can't afford your tantrums, Stark. We need to always be ready to serve the earth as its willing soldiers."

The billionaire lost his serenity and a cold light entered his eyes as he leaned forward and harshly replied. "I'm _not_ a soldier, Fury. I'm a man that wanted to undo some of the wrongs in the world and ever since I put on that suit, I've been treated like a toddler trying to tag along with his siblings more important affairs. You forget, as did Miss Romanoff, I bankrolled a lot of this grand idea of yours. I worked tirelessly to come up with newer and better gadgets for all of us, while keeping up with a really busy business on the side. Yet," Tony stood up gracefully and Fury immediately uncrossed his arms, ready for anything, "I'm treated like a side note despite all my work. Like I told your spy; I don't need you. I need two people and you're not one of them."

There was a beat of silence before Darcy copied her father's earlier movement and said calmly, "That means that you need to leave. Now. Isn't that right, Jay?"

JARVIS' cultured voice immediately responded, an unprecedented amount of smugness radiating from it, "I do believe you are correct, Miss Darcy. I shall see you out, Director Fury."

Fury's jaw clicked audibly when he realized that for once he had nothing to lord over the oldest Stark. The dig at the consultant thing very clearly stating that he'd used up the last of his cards and the leader of S.H.I.E.L.D knew he needed to go before he ruined the last shred of goodwill that Tony had for him.

He left as quickly as he'd arrived, silently vowing to get the details about the split from one of the culprits, Romanoff. She'd been incredibly tightlipped about everything when he'd asked earlier, but no more stone walling; he needed to know everything!

Damn if he wanted to admit it, but they needed Stark!

**0o0o0**

A few days after Fury's departure, Bruce was publically back in the Tower and working determinedly in his lab. It was his non green and non-volatile way of showing where his support was. His budding friendship with the Black Widow seemingly ending before it really began.

Darcy was a little conflicted. A part of her loved that the heavy responsibility and danger of having her only parent on the Avengers was gone, but she wasn't blind to the jolts and haunted and guilty looks that flashed through her dad whenever JARVIS announced that there was a call to arms from the Avengers.

Then Rhodey returned from some kind of deep secret mission with War Machine and dragged Tony to his workshop to tinker and repair, which seemed to cheer him up immensely and Darcy relaxed a fraction.

She didn't have time to worry too much after that because the afternoon after Rhodey's reappearance, Tony and Pepper led Darcy into the meeting room off the living room in their penthouse.

"What's up?" Darcy asked. She was feeling a little worried at the serious looks in her family's eyes. "I haven't ruined _anything_ today. I keep using the breathing exercises that Jay found for me online and—"

**'Fret not, dear child,'** a kind voice suddenly sounded. It startled the teenager into silence and she looked on mutely as the voice's owner appeared from the doorway.

It was an older man sitting in a highly advanced-looking wheelchair. His kind eyes distracted her from her perusal of his bald scalp**. 'I'm here to help you, Darcy.'**

It took a long second, before Darcy realized that the man's lips hadn't actually moved. In fact they kept themselves in a polite and friendly smile. He _clearly_ hadn't used his mouth to speak to her.

Tony's voice calling her name got Darcy's reluctant attention and her breathing slowed when she noticed the once again flickering lights.

"Baby-Girl…Darcy, this is Charles Xavier. He's the headmaster of a school for gifted youngsters like you. His gift, as you may already have noticed, is telepathy and he's the perfect man to help you with your control."

Darcy frowned and looked over at Xavier, but before she could even answer her question, he gave her the answers.

"My school is here in New York, not too far away and our students are properly taken care off. There are sit-down meals three times a day and aside from learning to control and use your mutation, you'll get a fairly comprehensive education with subjects suited for whatever future you envision in terms of careers."

Immediately, Darcy's heartrate escalated. Her mind trying to process the new information the telepath had provided, but all she could think of was the she'd finally been too much hassle for her dad and he was sending her away, despite all his promises never to do so.

The small rational part of her that had started truly believing in Tony's love for her didn't get a chance to calm her down before the lights all around her started exploding. The visible proof of her weirdness only served to bring about another massive wave of guilt that spun Darcy into a frantic mode that did nothing to lessen the explosions.

_Oh no_, she thought, her head full of panic, _oh no, he's sending me away. I can't_—

Before her mind could further throw Darcy into a genuine panic attack, everything suddenly froze. The unnatural sight of Tony immobile in the midst of hurrying toward her, of Pepper reaching for her and most importantly, the explosions frozen mid crackle was enough to finally shock her into a small semblance of calm.

A quick glance around the room revealed the culprit of the whole weird thing to be the mysterious headmaster. He looked serious but still kind enough that Darcy didn't immediately catapult into a freak-out that would make the one she'd subjected the Captain to look like a jaunty breeze.

"Darcy," Xavier began, sounding so commanding that the girl automatically listened. "I do not mean to pry into your feelings, but you must understand that they are screaming at me and since I am in a position to ease your fears I hope you'll forgive the intrusion."

The man waited for Darcy's hesitant nod before continuing calmly, "No matter what you believe I am _not_ here to take you away to my school. Not only do I prefer my students to be with me of their own free will, but I doubt that your father would allow such a thing to happen. He loves you very much, Child. You didn't let me or your father finish our explanations. I am here to offer you a place at my school during the day only. Your father will secure transportation to and from the school. Due to me and my staff's not inconsiderable abilities, he feels it will be the safest option for you in terms of keeping up with your schooling safely."

Darcy exhaled heavily. It was true that she hadn't been back to school since her so called _gift_ had manifested and she knew Pepper in particular was keen on her getting an education and seeing the headmaster's ability first hand told her why her dad even considered letting her leave his side.

"Oh," the rather deflated teenager muttered, an acute sense of embarrassment rushing through her. Apparently, she'd just had a hissy fit in front of her new headmaster. _Great_.

"You may address me as Professor," the other mutant kindly offered. A moment passed in silence before Darcy finally relaxed fully.

"Well, I guess I'm going back to school," she said and then added with another look at her frozen parent. "I mean, if Dad forgives you for leaving him out of this conversation."

The Professor chuckled and within a blink of an eye, everything unfroze and the looks of complete befuddlement on Tony and Pepper's faces was enough to catapult the youngest Stark into a giggling fit that in no way diminished when Tony started demanding answers for what the hell had just happened.

**0o0o0**

**TBC…**


	54. The Pathetic Hammer

**The Pathetic Hammer**

The first month of Darcy going to the Professors school turned out to be just what she needed. Even Tony could see that despite the part of him that wanted her to stay by his side every second of the day.

She had been nothing less than a nervous wreck when he and Pepper had dropped her off that first day, not even responding to the teasing jabs that normally got her going. Now barely a month after enrolling, the teenager seemed happier than Tony had ever seen her.

The cloud of doom and fear that had hovered above her since the full manifestation of her powers was gone and had left behind a girl that was a lot more confident and frankly, a whole lot more eager to let the past go and attempt that whole being a kid thing.

Tony was not as forgivingly inclined. His blood pressure still rose whenever Fury or any of his other former team members tried getting him back into the fold. In return, Tony did his best to be as annoyingly uncooperative as possible, citing more than once that he'd only ever been a _consultant_ and thus was under no obligation to continue working in an environment wherein his services were never really appreciated.

Bruce was the exception of course. The moment the mild-mannered scientist had shown up at his door two days after Tony had kicked everyone out, Tony had stepped aside and let his friend in. He didn't have too many of those to let one such as Dr. Hulk slip away after all.

Tony's trust in Bruce had been solidified when, a few days after his arrival, Fury had sent Natasha and Clint to reason with him. It had not gone well and only Bruce's immense self-restraint stopped things from going into Code Green mode.

It was nice and oddly humbling to know that the other man truly wanted to just be his friend and willing to fight for that right. He didn't seem to expect anything tangible in return and since it was a rather novel concept for Tony, he did his best not to tease the man too much about it. Instead he showed his appreciation by delegating an entire floor of the labs just for Bruce's research. That had gotten the two of them the title of "Science Bros!" from a grinning Darcy, the first time she'd ventured inside to grab Tony for some fancy meeting that Pepper was forcing on him and he'd completely (not) forgotten about.

Anyway, the incessant wave of attempts to get Tony back into the Avengers was annoying at first. Tony's anger at the Captain and the Black Widow in particular was a continuous simmer just beneath his skin, needing no more than the slightest gust of wind to reignite. Pissing off Fury was just a bonus that the billionaire took immense pleasure in.

The only thing that was starting to get to Tony was the whole bit about not actually helping when he was needed. He had to bury himself in his labs, Pepper or Darcy whenever the news exploded with another battle that the Avengers had been involved in. It was only the fact that Rhodey was helping the group out now and again and had sworn to call him in if they ever truly got in over their heads that gave Tony a little peace of mind.

Now, one morning on his way to dropping off Darcy at Xavier's school, Tony was itching to go to the newest site of combat. Apparently, someone had deemed it necessary to build yet another almost Iron Manish prototype that had proved way more than the creator could handle.

Tony had gotten JARVIS to schedule a meeting with Hammer Industries, just to make damn sure that the idiot CEO hadn't tried to repeat his mistake with Vanko. He was dropping by as soon as Darcy was safely inside the school.

Darcy interrupted his planning by gently hitting his shoulder with a closed fist. "Dude," she smiled, "you don't actually have to stay in the car until I get inside. I mean, it's been a month and nothing's happened and there's literally an army of mutants ready to have my back in case anything does happen."

Tony smirked and placed an arm around his daughter's slowly filling form. "Baby-Girl, I'm the Dad, I'm not just doing this to keep you protected but to uphold the sanctimony of embarrassing ones progeny. I've even prepared a few dozen Dad Jokes in case any of your classmates ever venture outside with you at the end of the day to meet me."

Darcy rolled her eyes and shook off his arm with a grin. "That's exactly why I'm not letting any of them meet you. They'd be scarred for _life_, Dad."

The sound of her calling him Dad never got old to Tony, his insides growing uncomfortably warm and fuzzy. He barely managed to keep the smirk on his face and not smile sickingly sweet at her instead. He had an image to uphold after all.

"Kid, I'm a patient man and the more you wait the worse it's gonna be. Trust me. Now, have a great day and go learn stuff."

With one quick hug, Darcy left the car. Tony watched her like a hawk as she quickly made her way to the entrance. It was a little weird how she always seemed to stop at the foot of the stairs to look around, usually toward the small forested area of the huge garden, and nod firmly to seemingly nothing before she entered.

Tony figured it was just some personal ritual she'd invented and let it go. After all, he was no stranger to OCD tendencies.

Happy starting the car to drive toward Hammer Industries brought Tony back to the present and he settled back into his seat to prepare. He wished that he was still drinking heavily, as any meeting with the egotistical CEO and eternal runner-up always went better when Tony was a little buzzed.

It had been surprisingly difficult to get Hammer to agree to a meeting in the first place though, so Tony figured bringing alcohol into the mix wasn't the best way to go. Alternatively, he just downed a bottle of sparkling water and tried to mentally prepare to meet the man that had almost killed not only Pepper but several innocent bystanders trying to one up Tony Stark.

**0o0o0**

Later that day, Tony was once again sitting in his car with Happy driving them toward Xavier's school to pick up Darcy.

He was tired and a little cranky after having spent way more time in Hammer's reception area than planned only to be told that "Mr. Hammer is in a meeting, would you like to reschedule?"

Tony had acted like the mature man that he was and burst into Justin Hammer's office before any of the stationed security even knew what hit them. Happy had almost had a fit, it was hilarious.

Nothing beat the terrified look Hammer sent him at his sudden arrival, though. That amusement died rather quickly when it became clear that the other man was _way_ too nervous and pathetic after his stint in jail. Evidently, he'd lost his kiss-ass abilities and had moved firmly over to the boring side of things. He was having meetings to try and secure sponsors for a new charity event. Hammer was in dire need of some good publicity. As such the man had no idea about the damn robots flying haphazardly around and giving the Avengers hell.

Just before Tony had left, Hammer's voice had stopped him and he'd eyed the other man closely.

"…Congratulations on getting your kid back, Stark. I…I'm glad for you. I read that she's not entirely traumatized after whatever happened to her."

Tony stared at Hammer for a long while, watching with hidden surprise as the man actually sweated with nerves, it was unsettling.

"Darcy is perfect, Justin. Thanks. Anyway, stay out of trouble and I won't ruin your entire business."

Now sitting in the car, Tony couldn't shake the feeling that he was missing something. He was sure that although pathetic, Hammer was up to something. No jail time in a luxury prison changed a man _that_ much after all.

_At least this way I can keep my eyes on him,_ Tony decided and put the matter behind him as Happy finally pulled up the long driveway at Xavier's school where Darcy was waiting in the massive doorways.

"Hey Baby-Girl!" Tony grinned exaggeratedly, rolling down his window to wave obnoxiously. Darcy's face was priceless and the girl stormed over to yell at him about being majorly embarrassing, which served to make Tony's entire day.

He wasn't kidding about the Dad-jokes either…

**0o0o0**

**TBC**


	55. Important announcement

Hi. This is not maipigen. This is a family member. She wanted me to share that she has been in a severe car crash and will be unable to update for a while. She didn't want you to think she abandoned her work. Please be patient and don't pester her during this hard time. Thanks.


	56. The Hobo and The Naming of Said Hobo

**Don't own.**

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_A/N would appreciate reviews to cheer me up while sick...just saying..._

* * *

**The Hobo And The Naming Of Said Hobo**

Darcy was actually kinda embarrassed to admit it, even if it was just to herself, but she _loved_ her new school. It blew the old one right out of the water and the half friendships she'd managed to form there was already wiped out of her mind because for the first time in her life, Darcy had _actual_ friends that were the same age as her. It was _awesome_.

It didn't make it any less cool that her friends were mutants and had abilities that were super amazeballs as well.

The Professor's hard work on Darcy's mental state had slowly changed her mind on her own mutation. The groundwork that her father had managed to lay had grown into a firm belief that she was actually a great girl and her mom's gifts lived on in her, which was a great way to remember the woman who'd carried her under her heart for nine months.

The curriculum was also very much suited for Darcy's fluctuating attention span. She _was_ a genius like the Starks before her, but due to her life's experiences she was unable to concentrate on the same thing for too long. She'd never before spent time in a school setting after all. Her old school had thought she was inattentive and rude whenever they addressed it with her, but Darcy now knew differently and thrived on the freedom to choose her own scholastic path.

The teachers at Xavier's were absolutely fantastic. There was the stiff, but sarcastically funny Mr. Summers, whose eyes could practically shoot lasers. Darcy had watched him demonstrate it a few times during their classes when one or two kids were slacking off too much. It was a great way to regain people's attention; she'd have to give it to the man.

His fiancée, Miss Grey was also pretty cool, but Darcy wasn't too fond of being alone with her as she too had some kind of mindreading ability coupled with her telekinetic abilities. Darcy didn't trust anyone other than the Professor to go roaming around inside her mind and it didn't help that Miss Grey couldn't quite control that aspect of her powers and sometimes froze to stare at Darcy with this horrifyingly look of pity and disgust that made the girl feel like she needed a shower.

Dr. McCoy was pretty awesome too, but it may just have been because Darcy likened him to Sully from Monsters Inc. He was just so cute and blue and furry. He had nothing on Dr. Hulk though. Darcy had grown exceedingly fond of her father's friend.

Logan was…Well, he was a bit like the Sergeant, her dad before his first cup of coffee and something purely feral all at the same time. Darcy recognized him as a kindred spirit in the whole 'complicated life-story- part' and mostly left him alone outside of PE. He seemed to appreciate it by never giving her extra work in class.

Miss Monroe was _epic_ though. Darcy liked her weather controlling mutation; it was as close to her own ability as she'd seen in anyone outside of Thor. It wasn't a bad thing either that Miss Monroe was very funny in that dry kind of way that Darcy had grown to love after reentering her father's life.

So in conclusion, Darcy loved the Professor's school, the people in it and him for taking her in when she was convinced that she was doomed to a freakish life for all eternity. Of course, all of those pros weren't even the best part of enrolling at Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters.

No, the best part was the fact that on her second day there, Darcy had been in a counselling session with the Professor where he'd informed her that a friend had settled down in the small forest on the grounds. It was the Sergeant and he'd allowed her to catch a glimpse of him every morning before she entered the doors.

Knowing that he was nearby somehow calmed the last bit of nerves Darcy had had lingering beneath her skin – no one could harm her when both her Dad _and_ the Sergeant was around. Of that the girl had no doubt whatsoever. Also, it was a bit of a relief to actually have proof that the former World War Two soldier and the friendship they'd grown into were real and not a figment of her overactive imagination.

The only thing though…Darcy hesitated one early morning just after her dad had left her as she entered the school. She _really_ wanted to meet him soon. Indecisively, Darcy stood just inside the main hall, wondering if the Sergeant even wanted to talk to her or if he was just going to be weird about her trying for further contact.

Darcy would probably have stood immobile, drawing confused looks from her schoolmates as they tiredly lumbered past for their first class of the day all day. Then a familiar, warm voice suddenly sounded inside her head and Darcy only had time to mentally curse once before being overwhelmed with gratitude that she'd gotten to know such awesome people as the Professor.

**_'Your Sergeant will not act too weird if you were to go to him now, Child. As you know my gift isn't completely able to grasp him, but it is clear just how dedicated he is to keeping you safe. Go to him, I shall inform Mr. Summers that you will be absent for this morning's classes.'_**

Before anything could happen to derail her plans, Darcy spun around and ran back outside as fast as she could. She knew that the Sergeant had to know she was coming, her movements and noise level wasn't exactly in the subtle zone. Trusting the Professor, Darcy just ran faster to give the man in the woods less time to think.

"HI!" Darcy yelled a moment later, skidding inelegantly to a stop just inside a bunch of trees where she'd spotted the Sergeant every morning. It took an embarrassing amount of time for the teenager to realize that no one was there but her.

It didn't deter her one bit, in fact it only spurred her on to know she'd have to coax him out from his hiding place. She was a Stark and if anything, they knew how to annoy people into doing their bidding.

Fifteen minutes later though, Darcy felt the first inklings of doubt as the trees, shrubbery and genuine nature of it all remained completely silent. The silence was only broken every now and again by birds and other small animals.

Darcy shoved the negative feelings down and unceremoniously sat down on the ground, heedless of the expensive clothes she was wearing. She knew that her dad wouldn't care one iota about her dirtying them anyway.

'**_Professor_**?' Darcy mentally asked, eyeing her surroundings with a feeling of gratitude that it was morning and the sun was out. It would've been a _lot_ creepier if she was sitting in the dark.

**_'Yes, Darcy?' _**

The Professor's voice in her head brought Darcy fully back out of spawning fantasies of creepy monsters and zombies emerging from the soil. With not a little bit of relief, she quickly asked before the man could tell her the answers she wanted. '**_Is he nearby? And is he mad at me for breaking this little stalemate of his since he won't talk to me?'_**

There was a brief pause before the Professor's voice sounded calmly inside her again. '**_He is approximately ten feet away from you, hiding behind a tree. I regret that I cannot give an answer regarding his mindset as I seem to be hitting that blank wall that props up inside of him from time to time. _**

At the end of the Professor's reply there was a tiny hint of frustration that Darcy politely didn't comment on. Instead she thanked him and refocused her efforts on finding the elusive Sergeant.

"Dude," she said toward a tree that was about as far away as the Professor's number. "I'm not leaving until you come out here. That means sitting here all night, getting frostbite or worse…Worrying my dad, who's definitely gonna come out here and then _he'll_ be the one you'll have to talk to. He's a lot more stubborn than I am."

"Somehow I doubt that," A gravelly voice suddenly sounded right from behind her and as the man's breath grazed the back of her neck, Darcy cried out with unexpected fear and the smell of ozone rose quickly in the air.

"Whoa, Kid, it's just me."

Darcy's mind didn't acknowledge the words for a long while, her heartbeat pounding and not even the Professor's soothing inside her head could calm her. A lightning strike suddenly cracked a tree not three feet away from them and then Darcy felt those familiar arms around her, crowding her back into reality. One warm and fleshy and the other cool and metallic.

The Sergeant.

"Ah _dammit_," Darcy groaned when she had fully regained her senses. "Being a trauma victim sucks. The flashbacks alone have set my dad back quite a few windows already…"

A rough chuckle in her ear calmed the last bit of nerves and Darcy slowly pulled away to look into the Sergeant's eyes. "Hey you."

The Sergeant nodded with a barely there smile and Darcy decided to be her usual diplomatic self.

"I know you used to be Bucky Barnes. The Captain figured it out and he got really eager to meet you, a bit too eager as I completely freaked out on him when he shook me and in the process I found out I was a mutant, so yay. So what do I call you now? In my head you're still 'The Sergeant', but should I call you Bucky so you get used to that again since it must have been like a gazillion years ago that you used that. What about James? Jamie? Jimmy? Jim? Barnes? Barney? Hobo? I'm particularly fond of that last one seeing as I can clearly see you haven't exactly made an effort to blend in with civilized people. Dude, a haircut is very much needed or you'll have to go the David Beckham route and topknot it…Is that even still a thing? Is that cool? Why am I even asking you that? You don't know about this or _obviously_ it wouldn't be an issue as you'd know how much like a hobo you look like. I mean when we met, I gave you money because you looked like a hobo. Hobo it is then. Anyway—"

The Sergeant's metallic hand suddenly landed on Darcy's babbling mouth and she finally took a deep breath and allowed the man a chance to speak.

"Hey back. Call me whatever you want aside from Hobo..._and_ Bucky…That's not me anymore…at least not fully. I'm touched you thought so much about my grooming habits. I'm glad you're a mutant. They will teach you to protect yourself. Tell what happened with S-Steve."

Darcy didn't dare skip out on any details, the dark look that the Sergeant…James (?) was wearing warned her not to and when she finished by telling her that her dad had kicked everyone out of his tower in a fit of rage, he actually cracked a smirk that did weird things to Darcy's belly.

"Good for Stark. Stevie can be such a punk sometimes." was all Jimmy (?)said.

The two stood in front of each other, Darcy still loosely enveloped by her friend's human arm. She eventually sighed and stepped back a few steps and leaving the embrace. A look around her showed no signs of where he'd slept and he must have interpreted her question by her movement because a casual shrug was all the reply she got.

"Wanna go home with me?"

Barney (?) froze and Darcy hurried to explain.

"I mean not like in a total creeptastic kind of way. I'm too young to bring guys home and with my history I think if I ever try when I'm way _way_ older, Dad's gonna freak them out so much they'll end up joining a monastery to recuperate and thank God for escaping with their lives. I meant that you can get a real place to live. A non-Hydra infected place where the only danger is my freak-outs and DUMY's so called smoothies."

Jamie (?)…yeah, Jamie sounded nice and Darcy quickly decided to go with that from now on as he responded to her offer.

"I'm not a good person, Darcy."

"Who cares?" Darcy looked around with a charming smile, "I'm not really into decent people. I don't know how to act around them. Just be yourself and we'll take one step at a time. I'm sure my dad will help out. He's pretty awesome. He'll love that you seem to want to protect me for some odd reason and...Well, I hope you'll end up friends since neither of you have that many in your lives."

There was a heavy pause before Jamie finally nodded with determination. "I'll try as long as I get to choose who I want to meet. I'm not ready for Steve or Natalia."

Darcy frowned, not having one clue who the last one was, but wrote it off as his fractured mind playing tricks on him and pulled out her phone to call her dad.

"He's gonna freak out a little, so don't mind me. You can go get your stuff from whatever hiding place you've got and then I'm sure the Professor will excuse me from classes today."

Jamie nodded and vanished into the bushes to do her bidding and Darcy broke into a beaming grin when her dad picked up on the second ring.

"Hey Dad, I really need you to keep an open mind when I bring my friend over today…"

**0o0o0**

**TBC**…


	57. The Cool Dad

**Don't own**

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**The Cool Dad**

Tony liked to think that he was a cool dad. Sure, he was inappropriate, lewd and downright eager to let people get the wrong opinion of him as often as possible.

That said though, the billionaire was still convinced that he was a cool dad. Able to roll with the punches, even though he'd gotten way too much practice over the last…oh tenish years, but the newest punch may push him into the 'Howard' classification of pure uncoolness.

Standing immobile in front of him, with his daughter's fragile hand in the one of his that wasn't made out of _metal_, was The Winter Soldier a.k.a. Bucky Barnes a.k.a. Steve's bestie and the main catalyst for Tony himself flying solo in the hero department once more.

Still, Tony _liked_ to think he was a cool dad…

"Dad?"

Darcy's voice held the same cautious hope that had drowned his ears during their earlier call that day. '_Keep an open mind, indeed'_.

Tony's sharp gaze took in the sight of weary tension in the other man, the obvious goodwill between him and his kid. Tony ran a hand through his hair, barely resisting the urge to pull on it with frustration.

_Oh what the hell_… he thought tiredly and then clapped his hands together in a final way.

"Okay, here's what's gonna happen, Soldier Barnes," Tony ignored the tiny fleck of guilt that flashed through him when the other man gave a minute flinch as he mentioned his birth name. "Your job is gonna be keeping a very Wintery Soldiery eye on my kid. Where she goes, you go whenever I can't follow. I'm gonna look at that arm because it seriously looks like something I just need to get involved with and _Darcy_?"

His baby-girl looked up at him with wide eyes of hope and dawning happiness at his capitulation. "Yeah, Dad?"

"Don't even think about falling in love with him or my hospitality is over. You're basically a fetus compared to him. Hell, I'm a fetus compared to him."

"DAD!"

Barnes immediately released Darcy's hand and stepped to the side. He looked like the very idea of a crushing teenage girl was way above his capabilities to handle and Tony relaxed a little.

After all, _he_ was a cool dad.

**0o0o0**

**TBC**…


	58. The Idea of Mediation Spawns

**Don't own...**

* * *

**The Idea of Mediation Spawns**

Not for the first time, Darcy realized that she loved her life. No, really, she loved it.

Even though she'd only barely been back in the world as a Stark for about a year or so, she sometimes had trouble believing just how much her life had changed.

For one thing, she was never hungry anymore. If her dad, Pepper, Jamie or JARVIS even detected the tiniest hint of hunger from her, some kind of food was pretty much always gonna find its way into her belly.

But really, the main change was those four people in her life…well, three seeing as JARVIS _was_ an A.I. but she loved it (him?) all the same.

Their love and friendship had repaired something inside of her, that the teenager hadn't even realized was broken. Sure, she was still nowhere near healthy mentally. The nightmares still came more often than not, but the fear they invoked always seemed silly these days considering that Jamie had pretty much taken up residence in her room when she was sleeping - her hideyhole of a closet had somehow turned into his preferred space no matter how many times her dad offered him his own quarters.

Evidently, Jamie took guarding her very seriously. He was also – aside from her dad and Pepper – the only one that could nudge her enough into taking proper care of herself. She never left the tower without proper clothing anymore. The Soldier was _very_ adamant about that and she figured it was some leftover part of him taking care of the Captain for so long.

Before their relationship had soured, Darcy recalled the Captain explaining how he'd been a sick runt for most of his life until the Super Soldier Serum had entered his system and how his best friend Bucky had been more of a mother hen than today's norms would expect as man to behave like.

It had been cute when Darcy hadn't known it was Jamie and now that she did, it just made her sigh with fond exasperation whenever his motherhenning came to the surface. It really was kinda adorable that a master assassin of his proportions would have a conniption if she even _thought_ about going outside without a coat.

Anyway, as if her little family wasn't enough reason to love her life, Darcy was still hugely thankful for Xavier's School and the awesome people she'd come to know and befriend. She couldn't remember a time in her life where she'd ever felt so content.

…And yet, there were the tiny flashes of responsibility that arose whenever her dad minutely froze at JARVIS' announcement of the Avengers being called out to help with something. The guilt intensified whenever she noticed that Jamie was lingering on the floor of the tower that used to belong to the Captain, almost too afraid to enter his living quarters and remember more of his past.

Both of those instances were guilt-inducing and combined it was just heartbreaking. The more days that passed silently watching the two men in her life suffer, the more determined Darcy became to somehow fix the mess as fast as possible.

**0o0o0**

She got a chance to do just that a few days later, after her dad had picked her and Jamie up from school. The former Hydra Soldier had steadfastly refused to not be at school with her no matter how much she claimed it to be safe. Since her dad was as obsessed with her safety as the other man was, it hadn't been too hard to get his permission. Darcy knew it was a little weird to spend so much time with a grown man, but since he truly was so important to her, she didn't care and just enjoyed feeling truly safe again.

In the limo, Tony was alternating between asking her about her day, texting Pepper and chatting amiably with the ever quiet Jamie when Happy suddenly announced that the rest of the Avengers had been called out and as always requested Iron Man's assistance.

Darcy had to hand it to her dad, he barely twitched this time and if she hadn't known him so well, his flippant tone and careless shrug would have fooled her when he denied the summons.

"Too busy right now being not recommended," said Tony before he turned back to Darcy, only to smile apologetically when his phone started ringing with JARVIS' tinny voice announcing from the speaker that it was Pepper calling.

While her dad was occupied, Darcy turned to Jamie, who'd watched everything without commenting. "Do you know where the rest of Dad's former team lives now that he's forbidden them entrance to the tower?" she whispered.

Jamie paused for a moment, eyeing her seriously before simply nodding. He then frowned a little warily when she rubbed her hands together with a quiet mutter of, "awesome."

The rest of the ride was spent awkwardly listening to a sheepish Tony trying to placate Pepper since he'd once again stood her up at a meeting with the board members. Since he wasn't actually groveling, Darcy figured it was their usual bout of foreplay and decidedly _didn_'_t_ listen in after that.

After their return to the tower, Darcy claimed she had a lot of homework to get her dad to relax enough to go to Pepper and placate her doing things that she really, _really_ didn't like to think about. As far as the teenager was concerned, her parent's sex-life didn't exist and he and Pepper were just playing Scrabble sometimes…_loudly_.

Anyway, a half an hour went by before Darcy felt secure enough to turn to her friend/bodyguard and state firmly that they were going to talk to the Avengers.

Jamie didn't look impressed by her plan and it took an additional half an hour to even convince him to hear her out. That didn't faze the girl; she was a Stark after all. She could out stubborn _anyone_ into doing her bidding.

Not unexpectedly, it wasn't long after Darcy had revealed her plan that a weary Winter Soldier led a beaming teenage girl toward the S.H.I.E.L.D. housing that he knew from his own surveillance was where the remaining Avengers now lived.

The legendary assassin did his best to focus on his charge and not on how pissed off said charge's father was going to be nor the fact that with every step, he was getting closer to Steve – a man that the Winter Soldier part of him really wanted to pummel while the rest really just wanted to cry like a little boy with relief that somehow they'd both managed to survive for so impossibly long.

A quick glance at the fast-talking girl at his side caused Jamie to wince a little. Yeah, Stark was gonna be _pissed_ alright…

**0o0o0**

**TBC…**


	59. The (Un)successful Meeting

**Don't own**

* * *

**The (Un)successful Meeting**

The Black Widow was intelligent. In fact, her smarts combined with her other talents and then rounded out with her looks made her pretty damn good at what she did. Seldom was she wrong, it was a trait that her earlier…employers had made sure to cultivate and as such, she'd never really gotten used to being wrong.

Eyeing her fellow team-members, the exhausted look in their eyes and the shadows under them that showed it more clearly than ever, the woman finally let herself admit the truth.

She'd been wrong about quite a lot ever since her path had crossed one Anthony Stark, but trying to bully the stubborn billionaire into conformity had been especially wrong. The day he'd stared at her with those dark eyes and that cold smile was the day that Natasha knew she'd crossed the line between them for the last time.

JARVIS had immediately secured their new lodgings and informed the gobsmacked group that Mr. Stark had given the A.I. permission to use any means necessary to get them out of the Tower as fast as possible. Seeing as there had been a never before heard coolness in the A.I's even voice, Natasha and the others had left within the hour.

Now it had been several weeks where attacks had been fended off without Iron Man's assistance and quips. No new potentially life-saving gadgets had found its way into her chambers in the middle of the night.

More importantly though; the friendships that had been cultivated between the group was almost nearly nonexistent these days. Clint was her best friend and as such, he had merely distanced himself a little while he fruitlessly tried fixing the mess they were all in by going to Stark, dragging Natasha with him. Needless to say it hadn't ended well. Steve was nearly catatonic whenever he wasn't on missions. Usually, he sat by the window in the cramped kitchen they all shared and stared blindly at his bare sketchbook. He'd ignored any and all attempts at getting him to talk ever since the day they'd all been practically marched out of the Tower in disgrace. At first, the Captain's optimism had been his fuel. He'd fully believed that the whole mess would get sorted out as soon as the group could bond over their newest common enemy.

Stark had thwarted that by being nowhere in sight and no matter how many times they'd made overtures to bridge the gap between them, all they were met with was JARVIS' not so apologetic voice and ice-cold silence from their former team-member.

Bruce had followed them out of the tower that first day, looking heartbroken. It didn't take long before the sadness transformed into disgust at them and as such he soon returned to Stark's side and aside from a few missions where his alter ego had been needed, they hadn't seen the doctor since.

Natasha sighed heavily. She needed to somehow fix things before someone got hurt. A quick look at her team had the redhead silently add, _before someone got hurt worse than they already are…_

So focused on her thoughts was Natasha that it took even her a second to realize that someone had entered the premises. Someone not invited.

Immediately, the others and she were at their feet preparing for the worst, only to deflate and freeze with shock when a sharp whistle brought their movements to a halt. In front of them suddenly stood Darcy Stark and the Winter Soldier of all people.

**0o0o0**

Even though Darcy knew it was _beyond_ necessary that she talked to her dad's former team, the knot of fear in her stomach couldn't be denied.

Just before Jamie led her inside the housing unit where he proclaimed the Avengers' to be, Darcy stopped briefly and hesitated. Inside was the Captain that frightened her and the Black Widow, who Darcy had managed to get JARVIS to reveal had been somewhat responsible for whatever blowup that had happened. Jamie only turned as if he wanted her to know that she was running things, that he would follow her lead.

It was that show of trust from a man that could literally twist her into several pieces without breaking a sweat that decided things for Darcy. Also, the memory of her dad's face the last time he'd ignored an assembly call kept flashing through her head and nudging her on as well.

After what felt like seconds later, Darcy found herself staring at the small group of fighters. Another bout of hesitation tried to stop her from doing what she really felt she needed to do. One last quick look at the impassive-looking Jamie, who stood ready to jump into movement at a moment's notice, once again helped the teenager relax.

"Look," Darcy started, "I think it's about damn time that we address the elephant in the room here." She held up a hand to forestall any objections when it looked like Natasha was about to speak. She discreetly eyed the way that the Captain's focus never left the man by her side and sighed before continuing bluntly.

"you guys are idiots."

The firm statement seemed to get some reactions even from the Captain, whose mournful blue eyes jumped from Jamie to Darcy.

"Well," she continued quickly, half-afraid that Natasha would skewer her on something given the murderous look the woman was giving her. "You kinda _are_. I'll admit that I don't know what really happened between you guys aside from what JARVIS has told me, but since I was pretty much comatose and useless after finding out about my mutantness I'm not losing any money betting that whatever happened between you all involves me. Well, me and Jamie here."

Darcy nodded toward Jamie, whose stony expression didn't falter one bit when the others' eyes flashed to him with varying degrees of incredulity. Before anyone could utter anything to stop her, Darcy hurried on with her semi-prepared speech.

"My dad is a wonderful man. He's loved me all my life even when I wasn't there. I'm not stupid, I know he hasn't exactly got the best reputation out there, but it seems like you all keep forgetting that he's been killing himself more often than not to put that reputation behind him. Despite your feelings on the matter, he's been your friend and I completely understand why he's had enough of you all ganging up on him whenever the tough shit happens. Don't get me wrong here, I _love_ that he's not out there risking his neck for a bunch of self-centered morons, but he's miserable."

There was a long beat of silence that was finally broken when Clint spoke from his perch on the kitchen counter in the background.

"What do _you_ suggest we do then?"

Darcy crossed her arms, subconsciously trying to match the position that Natasha was in and unknowingly bringing a flash of bemusement through the redhead's aggravated mind.

"It's simple. You all stop acting like idiots and go apologize to my dad. The end."

"T-they already tried that," the Captain's voice grated in her ears and even though Darcy kinda hated herself for her cowardice, it was impossible for her to look the man in the eyes nor was it anywhere in her control to stop the sudden flickering lights at the sound of his hesitant voice.

Jamie immediately shifted closer and Darcy forced down her sudden bout of nerves. It irritated her that with all she'd been through in her life, being in the same room with the man that basically only kinda shook and scared her, was what was giving her the willies. She expertly ignored the voice in her head that sounded eerily like her dad as it pointed out that said man had also nearly choked her into unconsciousness not too long ago…

"Stand down, Soldier, we're not going to hurt her." Natasha ordered coolly, but it only made Jamie's stance more protective and to Darcy's surprise he actually spoke to the older female, eyeing them all intensely.

"You've done enough of that already. You also don't tell me what to do so can it."

"Bucky," the Captain abruptly got to his feet as if he'd been tethered by a string and it had finally snapped, taking a few steps forward. The quick movement didn't calm Darcy' mind and she jumped behind Jamie's broad back within one breath and the next. Her reaction coupled with the Soldier's instant battle stance stopped all further movement.

"Now this is just a _tad_ awkward..."

Darcy froze at the _very_ familiar voice and slowly turned in tandem with everyone else in the room to stare at Tony, who'd sauntered in while they'd been doing their little stand-off. His dark eyes landed on everyone for a brief moment before settling on Darcy's. She didn't have a good feeling about the calm way he was acting and her stomach dropped further when he casually walked over and took a firm hold of her shoulder so she was next to him.

Since she'd been back in her father's life he'd only ever touched her with gentleness. The firm grip solidified his anger and when he looked down at her and ominously spoke again, she began to realize that her impulsive idea to get everyone talking maybe hadn't been the best one.

"You are very much grounded from here on out and to middle age, Young Lady."

"Stark-" Jamie began, but abruptly stopped when Tony simply glared coldly at him. The quick display of who was in charge seemed to shock most of the other people in the room save Darcy, who already knew her dad was awesome and the Captain, whose blue eyes narrowed with anger.

Darcy only realized the other man's anger when her father once again proved that his mind was always cataloging his surroundings and openly addressed the situation.

"Don't even start Rogers," Tony ordered, gesturing for Jamie to get over to Darcy's other side. "Soldier boy here works for _me_ and taking my only kid outside when it's been proven time and time again just how eager my enemies are to take her away from me again was stupid and idiotic and absolutely _none_ of your business – especially since the last time you saw her, you hurt her deeply. Now, we're going home. My irresponsible self shouldn't grace your angelic presence any longer than necessary after all."

Tony turned to leave, his hand still firmly attached to Darcy's shoulder. It was only due to Darcy's tension at the situation that the light suddenly began to flicker when the Captain cried out, "Stop!" Not that she was scared…not a bit.

The loss of control over her powers caused the teenage girl to curse and feel inadequate and thus only worsening the situation when Tony quickly crouched down in front of her to calm her down. Out of the corner of her eye, Darcy noticed that Jamie had gotten into a stance that told everyone in the room that one wrong move would not be taken lightly.

"Tony, man, let's talk about this."

Clint stepped forward with his hand clearly in sight and his body language screamed just how little a threat he was at that moment. Jamie didn't relax and his attentive behavior somehow calmed Darcy as much if not more than her dad's soft mutterings in front of her.

Finally, realizing that Darcy was back in control, Tony got to his feet in one fluid movement and stated calmly. "I thought you were completely against me, Clint. That is what you and Red over there stated when you came to the Tower after our little disagreement."

Clint looked abashed, it was a look that didn't really go well with his harsher features and Darcy had to bite her tongue to keep her thought unvoiced.

"I admit I was mad, but I didn't really take your side into account and after this separation of the team you've enforced I've realized just how much you do and I'm sorry, okay."

Darcy watched with dawning surprise and annoyance as Tony's anger seemed to be vanishing at that simple apology. His dark eyes turned softer and there was a small smirk playing on his lips that the girl hadn't really seen since before "The Great Split".

"Don't think that lame ass apology is gonna cut it," Darcy finally stated when it became clear that her father was wobbling. She still had trouble understanding how such a confident man like her dad was so desperate to be liked. He was anything but a doormat, but in that moment, Darcy kinda saw the resemblance.

"Listen Kid," Clint crossed his arms and continued seriously. "We acted like morons and I don't blame your dad for getting fed up. We were a team and guests in his place and we pissed all over it and I for one am sick of getting more injured than needed on the field because the Cap and Nat can't own up to their mistakes. We're supposed to be a team and I want us to start behaving like one again. Do you think it's possible?"

Darcy liked that he didn't speak down to her given her age, but the slight manipulation he was giving off didn't amuse her. In the end though, she knew it wasn't her place and turned to her dad.

"Your call, Dad."

Tony eyed her for a second before his gaze landed on Clint, ignoring the other members of the team he'd left. Darcy in turn took a good look at both Natasha and the Captain. The latter was still looking rather pissed off, but he was engaged in what seemed to be a silent argument with Jamie. Natasha was standing immobile and looking as if nothing phased her and Darcy realized that the redhead wasn't going to admit to any wrong doings just yet. Her father's voice brought her attention back to the matter at hand.

"Birdy, you're something else." Tony began solemnly before breaking into a roguish grin that took years off his face. "But you're not entirely hopeless. Come by the tower tomorrow and I'll take a look at your Robin Hood plagiarized weaponry to see if you've mistreated them in my absence."

Clint smirked and nodded and before Darcy knew what happened, Tony's hand was back on her shoulder leading her out of the Avengers' housing unit. Behind her she heard The Cap splutter indignantly and then something like a thump that was probably the others keeping him from following them.

Tony opened the door to the waiting limo. Darcy sighed heavily when she saw that it wasn't empty. Pepper's disappointed face met hers. Jamie didn't speak, but she could feel his hesitation at her back and decided that she was old enough to own up to her own mistakes.

They all entered the car and Darcy sat down next to Pepper and tiredly leaned her head against the older woman's shoulder. "I know, I know," she muttered. "I screwed up and probably made everything a lot worse and I'm sorry. I'm grounded for life and I get that. Just know that Jamie was only following orders so you can't punish him."

Tony chuckled and Darcy looked over at him as he sat nonchalantly by the car's extensive bar with a fresh glass of scotch in his hand.

"Baby-Girl, I love that you wanted to fix the team but you have to understand one thing I've finally realized."

"What?" Darcy burrowed deeper into Pepper's embrace and listened attentively.

"You can't fix the Avengers because we were never really a team. They never saw me as a team mate, but," Tony hesitated and then shrugged with an unprecedented glimpse of hope in his eyes, "maybe now we can be…"

"At least Birdy saw some sense." Darcy stated and closed her eyes to doze a little. "The Captain and Natasha certainly didn't seem willing to."

"I'll handle Steve," Jamie's rough voice stated and Darcy wanted to warn her friend off. The anger that she sensed brewing in the Captain gave her the willies, but before she could get her mouth to work, Darcy fell asleep.

**0o0o0**

**TBC…**


	60. The Unhappy Man

**Don't own.**

* * *

**The Unhappy Man**

Steven Grant Rogers was not really a happy man. In fact, most things about his life he absolutely hated. There was a few things though, that bordered on being despised by him.

One was definitely having to go to the obnoxiously garish and expensive social gatherings that the rich and famous kept inviting him to and in turn promised him and his team favors in the future. All they really wanted was to rub their elbows with his and get as many pictures on social media to prove they were best buds with Captain America. It wasn't all that swell as he'd once innocently thought it to be.

The other thing he despised beyond all else was probably the way his life had turned around lately, all because of some little girl that had the gall to get his best friend to act as a glorified babysitter.

As the thought of Darcy Stark and Bucky united against him crossed Steve's mind, he expertly ignored the sensible part of him that kept wanting to point out that Buck was his own man and after all he'd been through he damn well deserved a choice of his own. The voice also kept reminding him of the guilt he felt whenever little Darcy was around, barely looking at him and never without a hint of fear in her eyes.

Steve's anger made that last bit surprisingly easy. He once again ignored the part of him that wanted him to acknowledge that his anger was more like a petty schoolboy envy gone wrong.

Before Steve could get too caught up in his mind, unknowingly scowling furiously into his empty champagne glass, he was distracted by a charming chuckle and the offer of a fresh glass.

"You look like you want to be here just as much as I do." The voice belonged to a handsome man in his thirties that looked vaguely familiar to Steve the more he looked at him.

"Yeah, sorry, I'm not much of a fancy party type of guy," he finally admitted sheepishly, when he realized he'd been staring at the other for several long seconds.

The other man grinned and Steve had to admit that there was a small hint of sleaziness in the other man's eyes, but overall he seemed like a good fella. At least he treated him like an actual human being and not an exhibit in the zoo.

"Steve Rogers," he introduced himself and held out a hand.

The other man nodded and shook his hand firmly. "I have to be an alien not to know that fact, but thanks. I'm Justin Hammer, and honestly, I've wanted to meet you for a long time."

Steve shrugged sheepishly and glanced about the room. "Apparently, you're not the only one. I've been told that in some form or another all evening long."

The man, Justin, looked serious, a hint of mischief glinting in his eyes and it very much so reminded Steve of _his_ Bucky that he actually agreed when the man suggested they sneak out and grab a couple of cold ones in some bar he knew.

The evening seemed a little less dull after that and for that, Steve was grateful. He could use a friend.

**0o0o0**

The dull drone of Mr. Summers' lecture didn't fully penetrate Darcy's mind. The sun was shining brightly outside; sending in tantalizing hints of the summer to come and Darcy was so bored that she couldn't even _pretend_ to listen.

To be fair, it wasn't that uncommon a thing to happen to her when it involved Mr. Summers' classes. He was just _so_ boring to listen to and she'd already read the entire book and he was only in the middle of explaining the fifth chapter.

The Professor had kindly asked her to stay in classes regardless of her brilliant mind in an effort to socialize, had even made sure that she had tons of extra work on the side, but the teasing hints of summer just captivated her attention that day.

It had been so long since she'd been permitted to just run around and do whatever she wanted. Especially since she'd been grounded these last two weeks after her little wannabe intervention. Her dad had not been particularly angry after she'd explained her worry for him, but Pepper had been relentless and made damn sure Darcy knew _never_ to leave without giving any notice ever again.

If she felt a tiny bit pleased at the proof of her surrogate mother's love for her, it was Darcy's business and she kept it to herself and rewarded the redheaded CEO by only complaining a little about the grounding.

Not even Jamie had escaped entirely unscathed. It had been a little funny seeing the perhaps most deadly assassin in the known world cower in front of a leggy angry redhead. Darcy knew it had nothing to do with Pepper's intimidation tactics, but more to do with the all but tangible feel of disappointment that she levelled his way. Darcy could relate.

As the thoughts went to her soon to be finished punishment, Darcy unavoidably began thinking about the Captain and Natasha. Their reactions had not been favorable to her idea of them sucking it up and getting with the program again. Although, JARVIS had informed her the other day that Hawkeye's efforts to build a bridge seemed to be working…with _Natasha_ at least.

The Captain was not in any way shape or form the least bit interested in apologizing to her dad. He had simply told Hawkeye that he would talk whenever the Starks' would release his best friend.

Darcy scoffed as the memory hit her. As if she would (or _could_) keep Jamie with her against his will. He'd glowered angrily when he'd heard the Captain's message and sent one back in return that basically told the other man to grow the hell up.

JARVIS refused to elaborate and it annoyed the curious teenaged girl to bits.

"Miss Stark?"

"Huh?" Darcy whipped her head from the direction of the windows and looked up at a stern-looking Mr. Summers. She could see her own sheepish reflection in his red glasses and tried to portray some of her father's infinite confidence.

"I'm sorry, I wasn't listening, could you repeat that please?"

She'd never seen a pair of red glasses look disapproving before, but somehow Mr. Summers managed it even as he replied calmly, if a bit sternly, "The class ended while you were busy dreaming while awake. Your…friend is here to take you home."

Darcy blinked, she couldn't believe she'd been so absorbed in her thoughts that she hadn't noticed the other students scrambling to leave for freedom… err, free time. She plastered on a semi-apologetic smile on her face and rushed out the door.

Jamie stood waiting by the door, his stance deceptively relaxed. She knew he was ready to jump into action at a moment's notice and she would never admit it, but she loved the safety his presence brought to her peace of mind.

"Hiya Jamie," Darcy greeted with a beaming smile.

Jamie still wasn't the most obvious person when it came to facial cues, but even his lips twitched minutely as he courteously took her book bag and slung it over his flesh shoulder. "Hey Kid. Ready to get outta here?"

Darcy nodded and the duo was already on their way to the main exit when suddenly the Professor's calm voice sounded in her head. Judging from the instant tension in Jamie's body, he too heard the voice.

**_'There's a visitor at the front gate waiting for the two of you. He has informed me he has no nefarious plots planned and only wishes to talk. I felt it prudent to warn you both however seeing as neither of you are on the best of terms with him at the time being.'_**

Jamie and Darcy looked at each other and without the Professor revealing the name of their visitor; they both knew it was the Captain.

"Well," Darcy sighed, "let's go talk it out with him then." A second passed and Darcy added firmly, "If he doesn't behave himself, I'm gonna zap him again and I don't care what you say."

Jamie smirked a little and led the way to the doors. "I think the Punk lied to the Professor. He's here for me."

"Yeah, I figured that," Darcy agreed, squinting in the sunlight as they exited the school's main doors. "that's why I said the thing about zapping him, you know."

Jamie gave a real smile at her offer but politely declined.

A few moments later, the duo stood in front of the Captain, whose blue eyes were locked on Jamie's form just like the last time they'd been in the same place together. Darcy felt decidedly awkward as it became abundantly clear that the Captain still wasn't there to apologize to her or her dad. Jamie was his sole focus. She didn't like it or the entitlement he gave off every time he spoke of Bucky Barnes.

"_Don't_ upset him," Darcy ordered, staring down the much bigger man for a few tense seconds before she got into the waiting car without another word. She congratulated herself for not showing any fear in front of the Captain and tried her best to distract herself from lip-reading by rereading her textbook.

Even if she didn't personally like it, Darcy knew that the two men had a lot of things to talk about that didn't involve her and she cared so much for Jamie that she'd respect his privacy even though she _did_ practice her zapping while reading, just in case…

**0o0o0**

**TBC**…


	61. The Reality Check

**Don't own.**

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_A/N I've stated before that I strive for reviews and seeing barely any is kinda breaking my heart a little considering all the work I put in..._

* * *

**The Reality Check**

Jamie and Steve stood in tense awkward silence, watching Darcy disappear into the waiting car without even looking back at them.

Jamie held a small smile back, he knew the girl was dying of curiosity but was letting the two of them settle their differences in private. She was a lot like someone from his past that he couldn't quite remember…maybe his Ma. Of course the soldier knew that he'd be getting the third degree when they got home.

Steve cleared his throat and Jamie looked at him with one raised brow and began their much needed conversation with the first question that had been on his mind the most.

"What the hell do you think you're doing here, Rogers?"

Steve frowned and crossed his arms defensively. "I'm just trying to make you realize where you belong, Bucky. You're not a fricking nanny, you're my best pal and we need to stick together."

Sighing heavily, it took a minute before Jamie managed to answer softly, "I'm not a nanny, Steve. I'm doing what I wanna be doing. Something that I've not been able to for a long time and I'd hoped as my so called best friend, you'd understand that."

"I get that you wanna feel useful, Buck, but you can do that by my side, like we've always done. Till' the end of the line, remember?"

The words resonated in the part of Jamie that kept getting flashes of a smiling skinny kid that he'd gotten out of trouble way more times than his Swiss-cheese memory could recall. He knew it was meaningful, he even vaguely remembered when those words had caused him to dive back into that river to save the big lug in front of him after their nearly deadly fight.

It didn't change the fact, however, that Jamie was right where he was needed and more importantly wanted to be.

"I'm not gonna leave Darcy alone until she tells me to get out of her life. I owe her and Stark a hell of a lot and I'm letting anyone else guard their six."

Steve's face turned ugly for a second, his expression souring as if he'd just been told to suck fifty lemons. "You don't owe Stark anything. He's an immature, irresponsible man that can't match up to Howard in anything other than the amount of gals he hooks up with. You're my friend, Bucky Barnes. I need you by my side, you have no idea what I've been going through these last few years and you need to listen to me—"

"No," Jamie snapped, for the first time some of his annoyance and own bitterness bled through his voice, "you need to listen to me, Captain Steven Grant Rogers!"

Steve looked ready to argue and before he could get another word in, Jamie let loose some of his own thoughts on the whole matter.

"You've had a hard few years, I get that. Truly I do, but let me remind you that you spent 70 odd years _asleep_ in the ice and nightmares aside that sounds pretty damn good to me. _I_ on the other hand spent those years in a living hell getting more and more of my soul sucked dry by those HYDRA bastards. It took years for me to completely break and whenever I glimpsed a piece of myself and tried to keep that, they always knew and hurt and mocked me until I didn't even remember screaming for you, hell, _anyone_ to come save me. The decades blew by me in a haze of pain, suffering and killing. I know Natalie is never far from your side these days so I'm betting she's given you plenty of details of my life as the Winter Soldier. Did she also tell you that I was the one killing Howard Stark and his wife?"

The other man didn't get a chance to formulate a response before Jamie continued hoarsely. "I rigged Howard's car. I'll tell ya a secret. He didn't die immediately like his wife did. He saw me walking up to them and started crying. Not for him or his dead wife already cooling next to him, halfway out the fucking window. No, his brilliant mind already put together what had happened to me and he used those last few seconds of his life pitying me and begging me to fight their orders so I didn't kill his son. After I snapped his neck something awoke in me and I flipped the hell out. My handlers couldn't get me to listen and I spent months being beaten, shocked and broken and put somewhat back together until they decided to throw me in the icebox till' they dared use me again. The next time they woke me up, I was looking at a much older Pierce and a new set of orders to kill Captain America and protect HYDRA's greatness."

Jamie took a deep breath, ignoring the horrified and devastated look on his old friend's now very pale face before finishing his tale.

"Fighting with you re-ignited something inside of me that I'd forgotten existed and I will forever be grateful to you for that. But you have to understand that the James Barnes you knew died the moment he fell off that train. The bits and pieces left behind after HYDRA's insanities were glued back together by nearly killing you and that girl in that car over there; she somehow got those pieces back into some semblance of living. I know it sounds stupid but I love that girl and I'll die for her just as I would for you. That said," Jamie licked his dry lips and finished softly, "I need you to stop acting like the damn bullies you hated when my mind wasn't broken. Grow the hell out of your self-imposed pity party and realize you're not the only one who's suffered. Be the punk that loved life despite everything again and start enjoying the fact that we both somehow exist in this crazy future that Howard only dreamed off back in the Forties."

The two childhood friends stood silent once more. Jamie fought back the urge to fidget like a schoolboy and eyed Steve, who seemed like his entire worldview had been changed in an instant. Maybe it had, Jamie didn't speculate too much about it though. Instead, he waited until he caught a glimpse of the kid he grew up with and good naturedly slapped him on the shoulder.

"Now, that's enough talking for now. I want you to apologize to the kid. I don't like the way she flinches from you and I still need to kick your teeth in for scaring her the way you did, but…come back to the Tower with us and let's get the whole damn mess with Stark and the rest of your team figured out 'fore some new craziness happens."

Steve swallowed and uncrossed his arms slowly. "I don't know what to say right now," he confessed and Jamie smirked.

"I find that hard to believe, but just get inside the damn car and let's get moving. I need a beer and Darce needs to get home before her father starts sending out S.W.A.T. teams."

The Captain smiled, it was small and tentative but it was there and the Soldier felt a rare form of satisfaction even as he knew that Darcy probably wouldn't react too well to the other man.

**0o0o0**

A few minutes later, Jamie had to hold back a smile as he sat next to Steve and tried making eye contact with Darcy as she vigorously did her best to ignore him and pout at the same time. Apparently, she was _not_ interested in forgiving anyone. It seemed the young teenager was just as stubborn as her Stark genes would lead one to believe. Not that it surprised Jamie one bit, he'd seen it first hand before after all.

Steve hadn't said a word after the first hesitant 'hello' that had went entirely ignored. Happy, the driver seemed equally pissed and Jamie knew he needed to get them cooled off a bit before they got to the Tower.

Before he could do much of anything though, there was a sudden explosion very close to the limo and Jamie's instinctively threw himself over a screaming Darcy, the sting of electricity coming from her immediately dying out as soon as her mind registered his presence.

Another explosion came and this time the blast was so close that it rippled through everything and the car flipped around. Darcy's screaming abruptly cut off and Jamie wanted nothing more than check on her, but the force of the vehicle flipping caused him to crash through the nearest window.

Just before he lost consciousness, Jamie cursed himself out for not wearing a goddamn seatbelt and listened helplessly as Steve's roar of anger turned into a gurgle of pain.

**0o0o0**

**TBC**…


	62. The Mystery Man

**Disclaimer is in chapter one**

* * *

_A/N Seriously, I don't know why I'm even finishing this story on here. No one seems to want to take the time to review and tell me what they think etc. It's not that I'm demanding impossible things but honestly, it's the fact that several thousands hits have come to this story with barely over 100 reviews and that is pretty sucky and another reason why I barely use this site to post anything anymore. I spend a lot of time doing this, and so do other far more talented writers than I and they have perhaps even less reviews than me and that is making it harder to find any motivation to post on here. Anyway, I think I'm gonna finish this story and the other one I've got going on and then stop using ff. net for anything other than my reading (and reviewing 'cause I DO review to reward those whose stories I like!). Enjoy...or don't, _how_ would I know?_

* * *

**The Mystery Man**

There was obliviousness and then Darcy woke up from one moment to the next. Her mind immediately remembered what had happened and it was also pretty busy sending out thumping bursts of pain that coincided with the worry over Jamie's and even the Captain's safety.

A second later, as her head pounded and she vaguely noticed a sticky feeling on her face that she knew all too well to be blood, Darcy registered someone talking. No, it was more like hissed shouting that was close by and getting closer.

Having learned from previous experience, the young Stark kept her eyes firmly closed and did her best to keep acting like she was still unconscious.

"…a mess of things! You didn't do what I told you to, Piotr, "a voice that Darcy's memory had never really forgotten sounded. Her heart began to beat faster and she utilized every inch of control over her powers that the Professor had taught her to keep undetected in dire situations.

_It can't be_; she told herself, determined to not jump to conclusions. Horrible, _horrible_ conclusions…

"Nobody was supposed to get hurt, you imbecile! I just wanted to find out what the kid knew for Christ's sake. I sure as hell didn't tell you to kidnap that _man_ while blowing up Captain America!"

"_He_ is a great Asset," a deep baritone answered in accented English. "Once he's been recalibrated, he will make HYDRA the great organisation they truly are once again."

"Forget about that idiotic ideology for a second," the first voice ordered, "_I'm_ the one paying premium dollars for your help – not so you could screw _every_thing up!"

The voices got closer with every word and Darcy had to suppress the urge to hold her breath and wish herself a new power with teleportation tendencies. With every word, she got more and more sure. She _knew_ that voice!

A moment later, a door creaked open and Darcy spent every bit of her being trying to act like she was still unconscious.

It turned out rather fast that it wasn't the right move. A painful slap rocked her face from one side to the other and she couldn't repress a slight groan at the burning that erupted in her skin.

"She is awake now." An unfamiliar man that she figured to be the HYDRA obsessed Piotr, stood in front of her with his bulging arms crossed and a scowl on his face that didn't exactly help him in the looks department. His words were spoken to a shadowy figure in the background that hadn't moved, not even to object to the abuse of his captive.

"It's not polite to hit girls," Darcy decided to hide her growing fear behind her Stark Banter façade, "in fact; you're not supposed to hit kids _either_, so you're a massive asshole. Asshole."

Piotr practically growled, but aside from one twitch of anr eyebrow that was in major need of some TLC, he didn't move.

The mystery man in the background, however, did.

"Ah, Darcy, you're truly your father's daughter."

Tapping into the part of her that Darcy refused to think about normally, she smiled wickedly and tilted her head seductively.

"I promise you, we look alike in more ways than others. We both share certain _skills_ that benefit others most orgasmically."

The mystery man seemed to freeze for a long moment and even the unmovable Piotr seemed a little shocked at her candid transformation into a wannabe sex kitten. Their obvious temptation made the Stark heir want to puke, but she hid her revulsion behind a 'come hither' look and small smirk.

Eventually, some abrupt noise from outside the room broke the stalemate and Piotr cursed before leaving, completely ignoring the orders to stay the other man tried to give him.

"It's so darn hard to get good help these days," Darcy pointed out. "It's like the people that agree to kidnap poor defenseless kids aren't trustworthy. I feel for you, Sir."

The man chuckled and stepped closer, still a little too short a distance for Darcy to finally confirm her suspicions, but close enough for her to see the genuine smile that flashed across his lips.

"I know you probably won't believe me, Darcy, but I never wanted this to happen. It was never my intention to get you like this."

Clenching her jaw to stop herself from cursing the man out, Darcy managed to ask rather civilly, "Then what was your plan?"

"Honestly? I just wanted to see something and things spiraled completely out of control." Darcy waited a breath and hoped he'd elaborate. Finally, the man sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

"I wanted to see what you remembered."

"Remembered?" Darcy felt her pulse quicken into a pace that probably wasn't very good for her. The man sighed again and took one final long step forward, into the light and chased the remaining shadows away.

Darcy's eyes widened comically and she felt her last naïve hopes run away into the far distance. "No," she whispered hoarsely, sweat beginning to pour down her face and tears were following immediately after, "no no no no no no no no…"

The man sighed one last time and his entire body language was as dejected and hopeless as Darcy's own.

"I guess that answered my question," he said sadly and the part of Darcy's mind that wasn't busy fractioning by the second couldn't believe the audacity of the man – How _dared_ that psychopath act like he was sorry and burdened by _her_ reaction?

His voice distracted the tiny part of her that managed to overcome her mind-numbing shock.

"I guess you deserve some answers before we figure out what happens next."

"Why?" The word flew out of her mouth, interrupting the litany of 'no's' that Darcy hadn't stopped saying in the last few minutes. "I just want to know _why_?"

The man once more looked like he was nearly overcome by emotions, but apparently the slight hint of rage that simmered underneath Darcy's fear seemed to stop him in his tracks momentarily. After a long while of tense silence that felt more choking than Darcy thought possible, the man seemed to come to a decision within himself as he nodded firmly and finally spoke.

"Firstly, I have to say that this is a long story and I'm never going to be able to give any justifiable answers. To give you the first of them though, I have to start with my name. It really explains quite a lot." He paused and Darcy felt her jaw drop in realization when he added quietly, "my name is Justin Hammer and as you already know, I'm one of the men that kidnapped you when you were a toddler…"

**0o0o0**

**TBC**…


	63. The Spitfire

**Disclaimer is in chapter one**

_A/N OMG, I completely forgot to post this chapter. No wonder it seemed sloppy and rushed. Here and hopefully it'll make more sense now. Well, I'm off to repost all the other chapters..._

**The Spitfire**

It had been a normal day. Tony had been in the middle of sciencing with Bruce and avoiding Pepper's persistent calls for him to look over some boring paperwork he honestly should have completed months earlier. Then the next thing he knew, JARVIS had suddenly cut off the music blaring in his lab and he'd stood frozen and watched not only Pepper run through the doors, but the still not forgiven members of his former team.

No one needed to say the words, that he somehow knew was coming. JARVIS did so anyway.

"There has been an incident. Miss Darcy and Mr. Jamie were intercepted on their way home from school. Mr. Happy and Captain Rogers are in route to the nearest hospital. There are no signs of Mr. Jamie and Miss Darcy."

Tony looked as if the strength to even stand was leaving him. He slowly backed up to the wall behind him and slid down without a word. His face turned ashen.

There was a near tangible feeling of despair and shock pouring off of him that made the others watching feel awkward and more than ever they worried for the man's mental health.

He didn't speak when Pepper quietly told JARVIS to ensure both Happy and Steve's transfer to their own medics in the tower, so she figured he didn't object.

Afterwards, the slender red-head knew not to get too close to her lover. She knew from hard-earned experience that any minute now, the man would catapult into rage and ferocious eagerness to do _something_. The firm belief and trust in the man she loved to always end up on top, solving things no one else could, was the only reason Pepper managed to keep her own calm.

_At least Darcy is with one of the most dangerous man in the world,_ Pepper tried to further calm herself, _he will not let anything happen to her._

**0o0o0**

Happy was the perfect employee, he always showed up on time and no matter how many shenanigans Tony Stark put him through, he never stopped loving every day he went in to work and did his absolute best. He was treated like a part of the limited family that Tony kept close and that loyalty was repaid tenfold by the tenacious Happy.

So, imagine his self-inflicted disgrace and guilt when he woke up in the private wing of the hospital that Tony had had built in Stark Tower only to realize that Darcy was nowhere to be found. _Again_.

In the bed next to him lay Captain America. He'd been one of Happy's heroes growing up and dreaming of bigger and better things. The reality of the man had _not_ lived up to the dream, however.

The devoted bodyguard had spent the time with Darcy back in his employer's life noticing how the National Icon pretty much turned into an emo-filled fifth grader with self-entitlement issues and a possessive streak a mile wide.

Tony Stark may be a lot of things, a drunk and patronizing genius with a tendency to overdo the whole being a pain in the ass – security wise, but he was anything but self-centered when push came to shove.

Seeing the National Icon somewhat apologetic during the time in the car before the explosions had caused Harry to swerve frantically was the only reason that he didn't ask to be located to another room if at all possible. Also it kinda played a part that the medics probably had a lot more important stuff to deal with than his minor tantrum, the bodyguard admitted silently – if only to himself.

Barely ten minutes after he'd awoken, the door to his room opened soundlessly and Tony walked in. He looked too much like the man that had lost his child years earlier for Happy to look at him without grimacing. The guilt was crushing and he immediately started apologizing profusely.

Tony held up a hand to silence him and after a moment where he allowed Happy to gather his wits again, he spoke.

"Tell me _everything_."

Happy did, including the fact that the Captain had shown up unannounced and had only been in the car because it seemed like Jamie had managed to talk some sense into him.

Tony looked dubious, but his eyes never strayed from the still unconscious Captain, lying immobile on the bed with his arms bandaged. He'd clearly done his utmost to try and save the two kidnap victims.

Happy gulped when his boss' dark eyes landed back on him with all his not unimpressive focus. "I need you to tell me who you've shared Dar—the daily schedule with in terms of…" it seemed painful for the other man to even mention his daughter by name, but finally he managed hoarsely, "who knew Darcy's daily schedule aside from you? Tell me you weren't dumb enough to share it with anyone, Happy."

The always loyal employee had a split second where he wanted to roar in rage at the suspicion in his boss' voice but after a deep breath where he managed to hold in his hurt and realize that Tony had to ask considering his experience with people betraying him, he calmed down.

"I told no one, Mr. Stark. The only one that knew about Miss Stark's activities was yourself, Miss Potts, Mr. Jamie and JARVIS. Oh, and Mr. Xavier of course."

Tony nodded and Happy thought he spotted a hint of remorse on the billionaire's weary face and was content with that. He knew that hell would freeze over before he'd get a verbal apology. He might receive some sort of unexpected bonus down the line, and that was enough. He understood.

Then Tony spoke again and asked the question that had begun festering in the back of Happy's mind without him really acknowledging it.

"Then how did Rogers know about it and more importantly; did he tell anyone?"

**0o0o0**

Darcy swallowed a dry lump in her throat and tried not to show any more emotion. After Hammer had revealed what she'd barely managed to accept inwardly, he'd gone on to make excuses. _Tons_ of them, each more inane and stupid than the next. To the captured teenager, it sounded more and more like the man was trying to convince her that he didn't deserve to rot in hell for what he'd done to her (or more accurately to convince her to never ever tell her father about it.)

No matter what he said, Darcy knew the truth. Her impeccable memory didn't fail in reminding her just how much blame she owed Justin Hammer. Her hatred for the man was only made bigger by his false remorse. It didn't help that she could hear Jamie from time to time screaming from what she could only guess was an enormous amount of pain.

One memory had forever seared its way onto her mind and no matter how much she'd repressed it as she tried becoming a normal girl again with her father, it was scarily easy to bring it forth when she needed it.

It had been nearly a month since the Bad Man had shown his face and although Darcy had been practically starving at that point in time, she wasn't sorry. His ominous presence always frightened her into the hard-learned submission he wanted…no, _demanded_ of her. She'd rather die than see his smug face near her again.

Then suddenly, her small room had been invaded by a couple of men, one of them being Hammer. The other was an oily-looking man that looked to be in his early forties. Darcy hadn't known it at the time, but that man, whose name she never learned, was the man that took her virginity and laughed at her screams and tears.

Hammer had gestured for some of his muscled men to grab her. A moment later, she'd been dragged into the main hall of the seemingly deserted warehouse she'd spent so much of her time in.

"Well," Hammer smiled blandly, as if he delivered little girls to strangers every other day and saw absolutely nothing wrong with that, "here she is. Since her generous benefactor has unexpectedly taken a forever dirt nap and left me in charge of her continued existence, I am honestly relieved that you showed such an interest."

The oily man gave a self-satisfied smirk that sent shivers of warning down Darcy's skinny back. "I thank you Mr. Hammer," he said and continued as he took a painful hold of Darcy's arm and dragged her to his side. "Though I must say I was surprised you hadn't tasted a little of the prize yourself."

Hammer's face scrunched up with vague disgust before being replaced by that same smarmy smile from before that showed no emotions except from smugness. "No, ew," he waved his hands dramatically in front of him. "First of all, I'm not into that. I'm a boob man myself and secondly, she's worth so much more to me when she's innocent as you've proven, my friend."

The hold on Darcy's arm tightened and the two men didn't exchange any more words. The last thing had Darcy heard from Hammer, when her new "owner" practically pushed her into the car he had idling nearby, was, "Have fun and thanks for doing business with me."

Darcy shivered as the memory finally stopped playing in her head. Her resolve to not let Justin Hammer manipulate her grew even stronger as she recalled the complete lack of guilt she'd witnessed when she'd been sold like a common animal.

Another scream sounded in the distance, more horrible and drawn out than any of the others and Darcy flinched. She looked around, trying to come up with some plan of escape so she could help save Jamie. Sadly there wasn't any real help to get in her surroundings. Hammer had placed her in a room, not too unlike the one he'd once had her dragged from. There was a bed, a sink and one light hung from the ceiling with its lightbulb shining its glaring light all over the grime covered place.

_Maybe I can use the electricity again like I did with the Captain_, Darcy thought, but when she tried to gather up the same fearful rage that had somehow transformed into that deadliness, which had nearly choked the life out of the Super Soldier, nothing came forth.

Sure, she was practically petrified with fear, and her insides burned with a need for vengeance against Hammer that even eclipsed the once she had against The Bad Man, but still nothing came forth.

Finally after what seemed like forever, but was probably closer to an hour or two, there was sounds coming toward her door again and Darcy frantically looked around for something – _anything_ – that'd help her against her capturer.

Before she could look over the tiny cell like room and find nothing as she'd done several times already, the door opened with an ominous screeching sound.

It was Hammer and to her surprise, he was followed by that other man, Piotr that had taken Jamie away and hurt him. Darcy jumped up from her seat on the ratty bed and looked only at the Russian.

"Where's Jamie? What are you doing to him? I'm gonna make you pay for every hurt you put on him!"

The man had the audacity to laugh and he turned toward Hammer with a grin. "This one. She is, what you say, a Spitfire, yes?" He turned his face toward Darcy again and she froze when he continued, "I will enjoy breaking that out of you."

Hammer cleared his throat, looking a little awkward as he addressed his hired help. "I don't want her broken, Piotr, I just need her to promise not to tell Stark anything about her past involvement with me. She wouldn't promise me when I asked her and this…"

"This way she will fear and promise everything," Piotr grunted with certainty. "Come here, Little Spitfire." He ordered with a gesture.

Darcy refused to move and five minutes later, she was being carried out in a fireman's hold with an aching face and a mulish expression. She managed to lift her head a bit and stare directly at Hammer, who looked a little ill at what he'd just witnessed and asked clearly, "Why do you always ruin my life? I'm just a kid."

It was with no small sense of satisfaction that Darcy saw the billionaire flinch as if she'd struck him and that was the only thing that stopped her from visibly reacting when Piotr threw her to the ground without warning and she looked up to see Jamie tied to a barbaric-looking electric chair with several cuts and bruises all over his naked torso.

"J-Jamie?" she whispered softly, scarcely recognizing her best friend. His gaze was utterly blank as it stared dispassionately ahead.

"Don't bother," Piotr advised and bent down to grab her arms roughly. "I need to test his obedience and you, Little Spitfire need to learn silence."

The man turned to Jamie with a very odd look of pure eagerness and thrill on his face that made him look above all demented. "Asset, stand up," he ordered and Darcy watched in disbelief and growing horror as the man she knew and loved turned his face toward Piotr and did as he was told.

Jamie looked like a living dead and that almost brought tears to Darcy's eyes. Those quickly disappeared though, when Piotr's next order reached her and widened with absolute terror.

"Asset, _break_ this girl. I will tell you when to stop."

**0o0o0**

**TBC**…


	64. The Anger and The Forgiveness

**Disclaimer is in chapter one**

* * *

** The Anger and The Forgiveness**

Darcy was scared, and it did no good trying to lie about it, especially to herself. The look that her Jamie was bestowing upon her was creeping her out.

He stood at attention when Piotr spoke, his muscled and naked torso bearing its clear evidence of the abuse he'd suffered over the last many hours. Despite the signs of pain and the drying sweat on his skin, his face remained blank and completely obedient when Piotr once more ordered him to break her.

Darcy swallowed a lump of dread as Jam…_No_, The Winter Soldier drew nearer._ I have to snap him out of this,_ she thought with growing fear. _He will never forgive himself when he returns to normal._

Deciding to try to reach her friend, Darcy got to her feet and attempted to reason him back to his senses. "Jamie, don't do this! It's me, _Darcy_. You don't really want to do thi—"

Darcy never finished her plea because in the middle of talking, the flesh hand of The Winter Soldier struck out and backhanded her brutally and without an inch of mercy, leaving her to falter backwards into the wall with a loud thump.

The stinging pain of the slap was almost negligent in the young Stark's mind; her tear-filled eyes were locked on the still approaching man in front of her. Out of the corner of her eye, Darcy realized that Piotr was practically beaming at the sight in front of him.

"Good," he praised his brainwashed Asset before ordering him to continue.

Without any hesitation whatsoever, The Winter Soldier attacked again. This time his robotic arm slammed into her stomach and Darcy fell forward gasping desperately for air that didn't seem to want to come no matter how frantically she wanted it to. The pain from the punch was too much to ignore easily, but before Darcy got any bearing over herself again, the cool metallic hand she used to admire so, grabbed onto the nape of her neck harshly and what followed was a series of blows that was usually reserved for grown men.

After what seemed like forever, Darcy was released from The Winter Soldier's grip abruptly when Piotr suddenly spoke again.

"Stand down. I want to question the Spitfire."

A moment later, a dazed and pain-filled Darcy saw the Russian hitman's large boots stop in front of her. She didn't care. She was too busy trying not to cry like the little girl she actually was. Inside of her, she could feel her emotions surging and even though she couldn't quite get a firm grasp of her powers, she kept trying now that the beating had stopped however momentarily it may be.

"So, is the Spitfire already broken?" Piotr's tone of voice was nothing short of smug and despite knowing she'd regret it, Darcy couldn't keep her Stark temper in check and used the last bit of her strength to raise her head and spit Piotr right in the face. The bloodied spit slid down his face and the smug look was quickly replaced by a furious one that the girl knew spelled no end of trouble for her.

"_Continue_," he demanded roughly at The Winter Soldier, who was standing at attention once again, "and this time, make sure to _break_ her!"

Darcy looked up at The Winter Soldier with tears running down her face. "Please," she begged shamelessly, "I don't want to hurt anymore, Jamie. _Please_ stop…"

Something glinted in the man's eyes and for one brief second, Darcy dared to hope that her words had gotten through to him. Only to have it come crashing back down to reality when he swiftly bent down and with his metallic hand slowly snapped her left thighbone in two.

The scream she let loose at the blinding pain would haunt him in his dreams for years to come, but in that moment in time, he barely hesitated before backhanding her again, following the orders of a deranged handler that simply chuckled at the young girl's agony.

**0o0o0**

When Steve was a young kid, a punk as Buck used to say affectionately, he'd been desperate to be like everyone else. Big, strong or even just able to walk up a pair of stairs without feeling like his chest was on fire or stepping outside on a windy day and not fear being brushed into other people or buildings due to his slight weight.

After the Serum had entered his life, Steve hadn't really been able to remember that. Too busy for one thing to truly appreciate his changed circumstances and too focused on everything else. The quickness of his healing whenever a bullet grazed him or someone took a swing at him, made it very easy to not remember the time when _everything_ hurt.

When he'd been thawed up, things once again happened to make any kind of introspection or coping of his grief and post-traumatic stress completely not an option. Then, just when he'd begun to learn the lay of the land in this new world, Bucky had turned up alive and everything came hurtling back.

It was Steve's best friend, his brother in all but blood. The one man that had never wanted anything but the very best for Steve…and the fact that a teenaged girl had somehow managed to get close to the brainwashed Bucky where Steve had failed had _rankled_. It hadn't been until Bucky himself had finally had enough and spoken some harsh truths to him in front of Xavier's School that Steve realized just how wrong he'd been acting. The guilt had barely managed to manifest as he sat awkwardly in the limo in front of Bu…_Jamie_ and a silently glaring Darcy before an explosion had turned everything to hell once again.

Steve had fought like a wild animal, trying to get the masked men away from the downed Darcy, who was lying immobile on the ground not too far from his best friend. The next few moments rushed by in a blur of punches, kicks and bullets. He'd barely registered the injuries that the unknown assailants rained down upon him until a vicious kick in his throat caused him to cough up blood and cry out in pain in a way he hadn't done since before the Serum. He'd didn't even remember falling unconscious.

When he woke again, his body was riddled with small aches, his throat in particular, but Steve recognized the pain as being all but gone due to the healing he now possessed and sighed in slight relief. In the next second, he sat up as all the memories poured into him.

"Bucky? Darcy?" He called, only to freeze completely as his eyes locked with Tony's, who was standing at the edge of his bed.

Never, not even during their last violent encounter, had Steve truly feared for his life. Now, though, the mixture of hate and desperation in those dark eyes was enough to make his pulse increase as was clearly heard by the monitors by his bed.

"Welcome back, Rogers," Tony's voice was complete ice and it sent shivers down Steve's back. Without the other man even saying it, he knew that he was treading on very thin ice. "I have a few questions for you and I'd suggest that you answer truthfully."

"Of course," Steve fought of the crippling fear and waited.

"As I've already questioned my driver and gotten his answers, I will know if you lie about anything up till the attack on my kid. If that happens, I _will_ kill you before anyone has time to stop me, not even your little Widow Bestie. Are we clear?"

Steve nodded, knowing that for once the billionaire wasn't joking in the least. "Yes."

Tony straightened from his slouch at the foot of his bed and crossed his arms ominously. "Who told you about Darcy's daily routine?"

Without hesitating or trying to hide his shame, Steve confessed, "I staked out your routines for about a week. My main focus was on wherever Bucky was and that's when I realized where Darcy goes to school. I followed the car one morning on my bike to confirm it fully."

Pepper, who'd so far remained unnoticed by the Super Soldier, gasped over by the other bed where the driver, Happy was sleeping. The look she gifted Steve was so full of venom and disgust that he felt his long dead mother's ghost threatening his behind for his actions. A brief thought crossed his mind about how his Ma would've loved the take charge red-head before Tony's voice brought him back to the present with a slight jolt.

"Who did you share your knowledge with?"

Steve frowned, a little confused by the question, and Tony elaborated, "Did you tell anyone about your plan to show up unannounced at Xavier's school?"

This time Steve _did_ hesitate, going over the hours before his impulsive visit to confront Bucky. The hesitation seemed to bring forth a new level of rage in the older looking man as Tony gripped the end of his bed with white-knuckled hands and practically growled his next words.

"Let me remind you that lying is a very _very_ bad idea, Rogers. Especially since Xavier is a world renowned telepath that has a soft spot for my daughter and my patience is running lower with every breath you take!"

Feeling a little attacked, Steve sat up. He ignored the flares of pain his injuries gave off as he said, "I didn't go blab anything to anybody, Tony! I'm not that stupid. I came home from finding out where Bucky went every morning and decided to go back when Darcy got out of school for the day. I cancelled my lunch plans and that's….that…" Steve slowed down, his mind going over the phone call he'd made before rushing back to talk with his childhood friend.

"What?" Tony interrupted him, looking eager and angry all at the same time. "You look like a lightbulb just went off in your head. _What_?"

Steve swallowed a lump of renewed fear, shame and a growing sense of horrified betrayal. "I did tell one person what I was planning on doing." He revealed quietly. "I…" he faltered before continuing, "I had lunch plans with a friend and called him to cancel. I told him that I was going to Xavier's school to talk some sense into Bucky, to save him from ba…babysitting Stark's kid."

There was a long beat of silence where Steve genuinely feared for his continued survival, not only from Tony, but from Pepper, who'd stood up and walked over to Tony's side while Steve was speaking. She looked on the brink of doing something very deadly to him.

Fortunately, she simply asked him with an eerie calm voice to tell them the name of his friend.

Steve licked his dry lips and did as asked. "His name is Justin. Justin Hammer."

Tony's reaction both shocked and confused Steve. The billionaire engineer started cursing and slamming one of his hands into the wall, leaving a dent that spoke of unexpected strength. Pepper used the time to quickly fill in Steve of just who Justin Hammer was to them and their earlier interactions with the man and Steve felt desperate to help undo the wrongs he'd done.

"Let me help catch him," he begged. "He might not know that I've found out about him being involved and I want – _need_ – to help."

Tony stopped ranting abruptly to stare incredulously at Steve for a moment. Before Steve could say anything else, he was shocked into silence by Tony breaking into an almost hysterical laugh before he turned around without another word and left, slamming the doors after him loudly.

Looking imploringly at Pepper, Steve tried one more time. "_Please_ let me help bring them back home."

The statuesque red-head stared coldly at him, making the large man feel tiny and pathetic. After a moment of doing nothing but look at him, Pepper finally spoke the words that would make him finally understand just what his selfishness had set in motion.

"You've done quite enough, don't you think?"

**0o0o0**

The silence was deafening, only broken a little by the harsh whimpers that Darcy couldn't quite contain.

The beating was finally over after almost a full two hours of pure abuse and the teenager had stopped screaming long ago.

Thankfully, The Winter Soldier hadn't broken any more bones after the first one, but under orders, he kept punching and slapping her all over. The bruises on her face had already shut one of her eyes completely and she'd spat out a few teeth, but she was done begging for what she knew wouldn't happen as long as Piotr was still alive. She took pleasure in denying him more enjoyment from her misery.

Her thoughts instead circled on how to break through to her friend. She knew without a shadow of a doubt that if –_ when, it had to be when!_ – Jamie returned to his full senses, he'd be overcome with guilt over his actions. He was always so exceedingly gentle with her and realizing that he'd abused her would destroy him. Darcy didn't want to see that and as such kept up a litany of verbal forgiveness even as his fists rained down upon her.

Now, after such a long time, it would seem that even the sadistic Piotr was getting bored. His satisfaction with his Asset's obedience aside, it wasn't very thrilling watching a grown man repeatedly beat down a child – at least not when he wasn't the one to deliver the pain. He'd ordered The Winter Soldier to stop and Darcy lay panting on the cold concrete floor, absentmindedly watching blood drip from her face down to the ground.

"Well done," Piotr praised and stepped a little closer. Darcy wished fervently that he'd choke on the smugness that was so evident in his entire being in that moment. It was disgusting. "The Spitfire seems to understand my point now, yes?"

Darcy nodded, too tired and pained to continue her mouthy retorts any longer. Piotr clapped his hands like a demented child and looked down at her with a sugary smile that practically dripped with fakeness. "Very good, Little Spitfire. You learned my lesson very well. Thank my Asset for his assistance in your lesson."

Using every last bit of her strength, Darcy lifted her head fully and looked into The Winter Soldier's eyes. She couldn't stop her own still open eye from leaking with hot tears for the nth time that day. The heartbreak she felt for her friend's situation far eclipsed her own pain and with that sentiment burning brightly in her chest, Darcy did the only thing she felt she could.

"I'm _so_ sorry for this, Jamie," she said softly, sniffling a bit and hating the vulnerability she showed in front of Piotr. "I know you didn't want this and I forgive you. Please remember that."

"Silly little bitch!" Piotr suddenly yelled, stomping over and slapping the back of her head hard. Darcy fell forward, but before she could slam her head down into the ground, a warm arm was suddenly around her midriff and before she knew it, Darcy was being gently supported up on her still functional leg.

Shocked, Darcy looked up at the Winter Soldier, who looked as flabbergasted as she felt over his intervention. Piotr flew into a massive rage and began hitting the younger-looking man while simultaneously shouting off various Russian words that went over Darcy's head, but she assumed correctly to be trigger phrases to reignite his obedience.

Suddenly, the metallic hand that had brought her so much agony reached out and grabbed hold of Piotr's meaty throat and everything seemed to stop for a long while. Piotr's eyes bulged out in fright and desperation even as he tried kicking the Winter Soldier with all his might. The brainwashed assassin blinked once and then there was one quick movement and next thing, Darcy knew, Piotr's dead body fell to the cold ground without any fanfare and a snapped neck.

The Winter Soldier and Darcy stood immobile for what felt like forever to the aching Stark heir. "J-Jamie?" she asked cautiously to no avail. There was no reaction. "Bucky?" She tried, hoping his old nickname would bring forth some kind of reaction. Nothing happened. He kept standing completely still, one arm around her to keep her steady.

A sudden sound nearby broke the stalemate and catapulted the assassin into action. Darcy shrieked as her friend covered her by jumping in front of her and letting loose an actual growl that sounded eerily inhuman. Before the pain at the abrupt movements caused Darcy to pass out, she caught a glimpse of his face. He looked as feral as anything she'd ever seen before and only had time to hope that whomever it was that was on the other side of that door was a friend...or Hammer, because even half-unconscious Darcy knew that no man deserved a feral Winter Soldier's tender care as much as that man did.

**0o0o0**

**TBC..**


	65. The Rescue Gone Wrong

**Disclaimer is in chapter one**

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**The Rescue Gone Wrong**

Tony was beyond fury at that point. His world had tunneled down into a specific set of things to do. Get the suit, get Hammer, beat him until he gave back Darcy, kill _anyone_ involved, and lastly, _never_ let his sweet Baby-Girl out of his sight ever again!

It was an easy list and Tony was nothing if not efficient. Ten minutes after he'd left the Captain's hospital room, laughing like the maniac he was beginning to feel like, Tony was in the suit aided by a just as seething JARVIS. Two minutes after that, he was on his way to Justin Hammer's building where JARVIS had confirmed the other man to be.

Sparing no thought on how this would look to the press, let alone the world, Tony barreled through the large panorama windows that he knew was the quickest way to Hammer's office. Under normal circumstances, Tony would've enjoyed the looks of shock and fear on the faces of the important-looking people, who was undoubtedly in the middle of another pointless meeting to get Hammer's revenue up enough to be a genuine threat to Stark Industries.

Pointless because…well, Tony _was_ Stark Industries and knew from experience that Hammer's people, not to mention the man himself, couldn't threaten his business even if Tony was captured in Afghanistan and stopped making billion dollar weapons.

In that particular moment though, his enjoyment of freaking stuffy people out took an instant backseat as soon as Tony located Justin Hammer standing in front of his desk with a very telling look of horror on his face.

Tony landed gently on the carpeted floor, making it seem as if he was expected and the other people's reactions to his presence were overly dramatic.

"Where is she?" Tony inserted just enough fury in his voice that Hammer wouldn't doubt his seriousness. "I won't ask again, Justine."

Hammer swallowed, his eyes darting to and from all over the place. The guilt on him was almost palpable and Tony wanted nothing more than to wring his fucking neck and throw him out the window like Loki had once done to him, only Hammer wouldn't get to be saved by JARVIS' awesomeness.

"SPEAK!" He roared when the pause lingered a little too long for his peace of mind. The shrieks of fear from the others barely entered his mind; his entire being was focused on the now stuttering form of Hammer in front of him.

When no answer came forth, Tony lost his patience and stomped over to the other engineer and hit him. It was only JARVIS' timely warning that made him pull his punch so as not to end up tearing Hammer's head off completely.

Minutes later, Hammer had croaked out a location and Tony had grabbed him and taken him along for the ride to make damn sure he didn't escape justice after Darcy was back in his arms again. Tony enjoyed the screams of fear the other man let out when he may or may not have been a little too close to dropping him a few times…or okay, maybe it was more like ten times.

It didn't take long before they arrived and Tony wanted to hit Hammer again, preferably in the nuts, when he realized just how close Darcy had been to him all along. Not even five miles away from the Tower and no one had been able to locate them, not even JARVIS. It galled the brilliant engineer to no end.

It was a matter of moments before Tony kicked in the locked doors to the warehouse and walked in, dragging Hammer behind him just in case there were any men working for him that wanted to shoot first and ask questions later.

To Tony's surprise, it was eerily silent in the huge space, JARVIS quickly scanned the place for any lifeforms. Fortunately for Hammer's continued survival, JARVIS located two such lifeforms through a closed door further up ahead. One matched the size of his tiny daughter.

Tony wanted nothing more than to run there and confirm with his own eyes that one of those lifeforms belonged to Darcy, but he needed answers now that he was so close. He turned to Hammer and lifted him up so his face was in front of Tony's facemask.

"_Why_ did you take her? I haven't touched any of your military contracts so aside form royally pissing me off, you won't get anything out of it."

Hammer looked a pitiful mess as he garbled out some kind of response that Tony knew was a lie.

"I'm gonna find out everything," he warned and shook Hammer to make sure the other man realized he was _very_ serious. Judging from the whimper-like sound that escaped Hammer, it had sunk in nicely.

Unable to delay anymore, Tony rushed to the door and kicked it in before unceremoniously throwing Hammer inside.

The sight that met his eyes turned his insides to ice. Jamie was standing in a half crouch over Darcy, holding her unconscious form up. Close to where he'd tossed Hammer there was a dead body and Tony quickly took in the sight of the injuries Jamie and Darcy were sporting and briefly lamented not having killed the man on the floor himself. Then the sight of his hurt daughter fully computed in Tony's mind and he all but jumped out of the suit, leaving it behind like an empty shell and not caring in the least about its continued existence.

All that mattered was his kid, his Baby-Girl.

**0o0o0**

The Winter Soldier was confused. It was not something he was used to being. Emotions were not part of his responsibilities as an Asset. Yet, ever since his handler had re-activated his protocols and forced The Winter Soldier to the forefront of battle yet again, that emotion had been floating around inside him.

Torturing someone wasn't a new assignment for the Asset. He'd been doing it so many times that he'd lost count. Well, if he had been allowed to keep score of anything at least. When the handler had ordered him to torture the little girl, something inside of the Winter Soldier had screamed out in protest, causing him to waver for the first time since he could remember. Not that he remembered all that much…

The Winter Soldier was a good and functional Asset and ignored the internal screaming that felt more like pleas to stop _himself_ than anything else and proceeded with his assignment.

The little pretty girl's words of incomprehensible forgiveness had only made the confusion worse. It wasn't something that the Winter Soldier particularly enjoyed, but that wasn't a new feeling, doing something he didn't like, and it barely brought him pause.

Until his handler was suddenly caught in his robotic hand and something inside of him practically burst with vengeance and glee all mixed into one pot of swirling emotions that the Winter Soldier had no experience with. The handler fell dead to the concrete floor with barely any effort on his part and he just stood frozen with the girl held carefully in his other arm.

The Winter Soldier's confusion was soon pushed into ferocious protection as noises of violence from outside the room made him decide to go into a rarely used Bodyguard aspect of his abilities.

The girl slumped in his arm and momentarily distracted him. He had not expected her to faint, although it was logical enough after what she'd been through. _What _you_ put her_ _through asshole!_ A growling voice roared inside of him and making his insides churn uncomfortably with a long forgotten sensation of guilt.

Before the Winter Soldier could process the fact that he was once again experiencing emotions without permission, the door was slammed open and a man was unceremoniously tossed inside. The Winter Soldier recognized the man as being the one who'd given his consent for his deceased handler to torture the girl in his arms.

A fresh wave of inexplicable rage flew into him at the sight, although it was tempered with something a lot like satisfaction when he realized the formerly so dapperly dressed man was now bleeding from a split lip and growing an impressive set of black eyes. His pristine clothes looked ruffled and dirtied as well and the Winter Soldier deemed that acceptable parameters.

In the next moment, all thoughts of whether or not to terminate the man laying groaning on the floor not too far from the corpse of his former handler left the Winter Soldier's mind as a robot entered the room.

Something from his earlier briefings back when he'd last been awoken to kill Captain America flashed through his mind and the Winter Soldier knew the robot was actually Tony Stark. The father of the girl in his arms.

The robot's streamlined face turned toward the Winter Soldier and something inside him froze in genuine fear. The angry voice inside him pointed out that when Stark discovered what he'd done to his daughter, _no one_ would be able to find his sorry ass anywhere. It was not something the Winter Soldier approved of and did what he could to preemptively appease the girl's father.

Without a word, the Winter Soldier held out the still unconscious girl. As he did so, the robot seemed to freeze and a few seconds later, it opened up and practically spat Stark out. He was moving so fast that even the Winter Soldier's superior eyesight had trouble keeping up.

Soon after, Stark was cradling the girl in his arms and trying to wake her while ever so gently letting his arms roam all over her body to access her injuries. Judging from the growing darkness on the man's face, he didn't like what he found.

"What the hell happened?" Stark asked, but was thankfully distracted from listening to the Winter Soldier's reluctant debrief when the girl groaned and returned to consciousness.

The Winter Soldier watched uncomfortably as the girl first struggled against the tight hold her father had her in, no doubt not recognizing him until she _did_ and then broke into tears. She was sobbing heart-wrenchingly in a matter of seconds and heaving for breath that made the assassin worry about a possible collapsed lung. He _had_ hit her in that region once or twice, hadn't he?

Casting his gaze away from the Stark family, trying to stop feeling so useless, the Winter Soldier caught unexpected movement over by his handler's corpse.

The all but forgotten male that Stark had deposited so carelessly had somehow acquired a weapon. No doubt from the still cooling body next to him. That didn't matter though, what did matter to the Winter Soldier was the fact that the man was wiping blood of his face while aiming haphazardly in Stark's direction and thus toward the girl.

That was _unacceptable_.

While using every inch of his speed, the Winter Soldier had already decided that it would be impossible for him to reach the man in time to stop him fully. He spared a brief curse due to his own weaponless status; he should've frisked the body and used his training to anticipate this instead of standing around motionlessly and without any purpose.

Well, he had a new purpose now. To make up for harming the girl and that gave him just enough power to reach Stark before the man managed to empty the clip into his unprotected back. He only managed two shots, and before he could fire more, the abandoned robot came to life and suddenly grabbed the weapon and crushed it to smithereens, along with the man's fragile human hand.

The Winter Soldier decided he liked the sound of the man's pained screams and ignored the burn in his side that told him that he'd been clipped by one of the escaping bullets. He was still standing, and his respiratory system seemed functional and that was all he needed to know to continue with his self-appointed mission.

"Daddy?!"

The girl's voice was filled with burgeoning dread and its tone brought the Winter Soldier's full attention down on her. He would kill the shooter if the girl had been hit, it would be over before he could draw in another breath to scream.

The sight of the teenaged girl, broken leg laying at a no doubt painful angle and covered with bruises and blood, gave him pause for a second as he tried to figure out where she'd been hit. Then he took in the changed dynamic between the girl and her father. Stark was no longer cradling her, instead she was holding on to _him_ for dear life and crying out his name repeatedly to no avail.

_The last bullet must have hit him in the back;_ some distant part of the Winter Soldier realized even as he crouched down and tried to administer whatever aid he could.

The robot informed them that it had called for help and it should arrive in a matter of minutes.

The Winter Soldier eyed the rapidly pooling blood on the ground and hoped they had that much time to spare. Stark didn't say anything, having lost consciousness soon after the bullet had pierced him.

**0o0o0**

Darcy would never remember anything else then the shock of feeling her dad fall into her with a grunt of pain as the bullet struck him, the feeling of warm blood spatters hitting her face and Jamie's desperate gaze even as his own side gushed blood out onto the now red-painted concrete.

No, what she would remember most was the roaring waves of pure vengeful wrath that rolled into her the second her dad lost consciousness and she thought he'd died in her trembling arms.

Hammer was hanging over the Iron Man suit, pathetically keening as JARVIS refused to let go of his hand. As Darcy looked over at him and met his fearful eyes, everything seemed to explode from within her. This was the man that was responsible for all that had gone bad in her life. She'd been beaten, raped and sold like a slave. She'd lived on the streets for fear of her life after escaping her capturers. She'd been treated like nothing more than dirt on someone's shoe and all in the name of making a profit for this man. _He_ was the catalyst for everything and now he'd killed her dad.

The hate inside of her poured over into the air itself, making itself known with several flashes of glittering electricity that made the Iron Man suit stall. The lights exploded in a sea of flaming flares. Wires ripped themselves out of the walls and broke into glittering electric flames, powered by lightning.

Darcy raised her hands from the bullet-wound on her father's back and pointed them toward the now terrified Hammer. All her rage flew toward him and he spasmed like a doll, whose strings had been cut, his hair broke into flames on top of his head, his skin started breaking, cooking him from the inside and it was only when someone huge and blond stepped in front of her that Darcy's anger fizzled out. It was impossible to keep hurting Hammer with electricity when Thor the Thunderer was standing in the way.

Darcy's hands were jerking uncontrollably and cramped together in claws as if all the power in her veins had hurt her as much as they had the gurgling and crying man behind Thor.

Slowly things returned to focus and Darcy looked up at Thor and did the only thing she could, while vaguely noticing that the rest of the Avengers were coming tentatively closer with every beat of her heart.

"Save my dad, _please_."

She passed out before she heard the Norse God's reply, but decided that was a good thing just before everything turned black once again. She'd take blissful oblivion over a world where her dad might've died in her arms, trying to save her, any day of the week.

**0o0o0**

**TBC…**


	66. The Telepathic Wake Up

**Disclaimer is in chapter one**

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_A/N Yay, two reviews out of currently 1204 hits...Not the five or more, I desperately hoped and begged for, but seeing as I didn't expect you to cooperate, I don't even care. Those two people reviewing know I loved it and appreciate it and this conclusion today of DMLS is for them. Enjoy!_

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_A/N2: I MADE AN ERROR, FORGOT A CHAPTER. GO BACK TO THE SPITFIRE WHICH HAS JUST BEEN ADDED AND REREAD. SORRY FOR THE INCONVENIENCE AND NO DOUBT CONFUSION AFTER IT WAS FORGOTTEN...ENJOY, EXTRA CHAPTER YAY..._

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**The Telepathic Wake Up**

Consciousness came slowly. Shadowy figures became actual people with a few weary blinks. One less-than-quick scan of the room, told Tony that he was in the hospital in the Tower. People were buzzing around him and he sluggishly tried to remember what it was that was the cause of the frantic movement going on all around him.

His mind was unusually uncooperative, Tony realized after a long moment of attempted thinking. He settled for looking down at himself and seeing the needle in his left hand, told the billionaire that he clearly suffered some kind of injury.

_Yep_, Tony thought blearily_, that is stellar detective work right there_… _And Pep keeps telling me I need to be more observant. Baby-Girl keeps laughing at me when I get scolded by my darling Pep…Baby-Girl…Darcy….DARCY!_

In one dizzying moment, Tony practically felt all of the memories of what had happened slam into his already medicated mind. With one adrenaline fueled movement, Tony sat up and unceremoniously ripped out the I.V. in his hand and prepared to stand. He needed answers dammit!

The last thing, Tony vividly remembered was a burning pain in his back and his kid's frightened and blood-spattered face staring down at him.

Tony knew in the very depth of his being that if Hammer (because who else would be cowardly enough to shoot a man in his unprotected back, come on…) had hit his Baby-Girl there'd be a lot more blood spilled. Tony wasn't really a good man and he owned that. Hell, he would damn near relish the blackness in his soul as he extracted every ounce of vengeance on the other engineer if Darcy had been hurt.

A memory ran through his eidetic mind and Tony barely swallowed a growl of rage. Darcy _had_ been hurt, hadn't she? He'd rushed out of the Suit to investigate just how much of the beaten up kid in front of him had suffered before it all turned black and pained.

"…Stark! Mr. Stark, please lay back down!"

A vaguely familiar voice slowly began to penetrate Tony's rage-filled mind and he blinked back into the present to meet the concerned-filled eyes of one of his long-time employed doctors.

"Where's Darcy? Is she okay?" Tony asked. Well, meant to ask. What his words really sounded like was, "Whasy? Iskay?"

Fortunately, the doctor seemed to understand drugged speech or simply realized where a concerned parent's interest lay.

"Young Ms. Stark is in the next room over, Sir and despite her original injuries that stems from what we can only guess is torture, her constitution is strong and physically I have no doubt she will recover."

Tony's eyes narrowed, that wasn't really a full answer. He knew bullshit when he heard it, being a master bullshitter himself. The doctor swallowed and finally elaborated after another glare from the Stark Patriarch.

"After seeing you shot, Ms. Stark lost control of her powers where she blew out the power in several nearby blocks and electrocuted your assailant, Mr. Hammer, whom we have in custody in a separate room here and will assure survives until justice can be brought upon him. The power young Ms. Stark released seemed to exhaust her so completely that she has slipped into a coma. No efforts on our parts have been able to help her recover. She seems trapped in a nightmare and we…" The doctor trailed off and Tony feared the worst and nearly cried when the other man continued and confirmed his fears, "we had to restrain her to stop her from doing herself any harm."

"How long?" Tony managed to grit out, using everything in him to battle against his rising sleepiness.

The doctor understood immediately, and Tony promised himself to get the man a raise when everything was back to normal.

"It has been four days since you were shot, Mr. Stark. Your vitals have been very erratic and coupled with your own rather special medical history we've had to use medicine to keep you under until you stabilized a little more. You have been awake three times prior to this, but this is the first time you've stayed awake more than a few moments."

Not caring one iota about his own damned self, Tony simply asked, "See her?"

The doctor hesitated and Tony knew he'd have to use a lot of effort to get his way. Before he could do much of anything though, Tony felt the unwanted oblivion seep closer and everything turned black.

**0o0o0**

The next day, Tony was making his caretakers miserable whenever he was awake long enough to speak. He bullied, demanded and threatened everyone with every pain imaginable.

It was only when Pepper was around that the billionaire behaved and that was merely because his girlfriend was looking so absolutely devastated from staying right next to Darcy's unconscious side that he managed it.

Finally, two days after he'd first regained his senses, Tony was wheeled into Darcy's hospital room and as soon as he saw her, the father almost wished he'd stayed asleep.

Darcy looked both incredibly young and very old at the same time as she lay bound to the bed, weakly thrashing every now and again. She was obviously caught in a hellish nightmare, her closed eyes moving frantically and tiny whimpers escaped her from time to time that broke what remained of Tony's heart.

"Baby-Girl," Tony whispered and gestured for the stoic orderly to get him closer to his daughter.

It was only as he was sitting next to her side that Tony realized that Darcy hadn't been alone. In the corner by her other side sat Jamie. He still carried something almost feral in his movements and Tony vaguely remembered clocking that Hydra mindwarping chair in the room where he'd found them in and knew that it wasn't only Darcy that had suffered.

Judging from the look of the other man, Tony knew he would've taken all the pain in resigned silence to spare the girl lying between them. Jamie looked _wrecked_, there wasn't any other word for it and Tony's heart went out to the man.

Then Darcy whimpered again and all of Tony's attention returned to his darling child. The orderly left without a word and Tony was grateful for the privacy. He didn't mind Jamie's presence. Even though the other man had been shot as well according to Pepper, there was no doubt in Tony's mind that the former assassin would manage to lay waste to _anyone_ getting too close.

"Baby-Girl," Tony leaned as close as his protesting body would allow, cursing the lack of closeness that he desperately craved, "I'm here; Daddy's here. Please come back to me…"

Suddenly, Tony felt two arms, one artificial and one flesh carefully grab him only to place him on Darcy's bed. Before he knew it, Jamie had returned to his seat, looking as distressed as when Tony first entered.

More grateful than he'd ever be ableto express, Tony slowly managed to turn to his side and grip his distraught child in his arms. He unceremoniously released her bonds and hoped that somehow she'd feel his nearness, his love.

He had no intention of moving from her side until she opened those gorgeous eyes of hers to tell him he was being too clingy.

**0o0o0**

Three days later, Tony was on the mend along with Jamie, but neither of them looked like it. Their sole attention was on the still unconscious girl they both adored.

It broke Tony a little more each day to see his Baby-Girl trapped inside her mind and it was only during a quick talk with Pepper that Tony finally got an idea as how to help her.

"We should ask the Professor for help," he muttered, as his fingers gently caressed the silently screaming Darcy. "He's a telepath…"

Pepper grasped his idea and ran with it, with the same ferociousness that had made her CEO of his company. Not even two hours later, Charles Xavier was led into Darcy's room. His expression somber and kind as his eyes swept over them all.

Tony noticed him pausing momentarily at Jamie's frozen form before turning his attention on to the waiting father.

"I shall do my very best," he simply said, having already been informed of what his role was supposed to be, and rolled over to Darcy's side. Tony didn't move except to sit up to give the telepath room to touch her temples softly.

Darcy froze at the touch and Xavier's brow furrowed. The time passed unheeded and the two unmoving figures seemed locked in some kind of battle that caused both their skins to gleam with the sweat of exertion.

Tony watched it all with baited breath and was at long last rewarded when Darcy's eyes snapped open without any hint of warning. She looked around wildly until her eyes settled on his.

There was a long – _never-ending_ – pause and then Darcy broke into tears and cuddled into her eagerly waiting father's arms.

Everyone slowly left the father and daughter alone, even Jamie who looked like the separation was killing him more than his injuries could ever do. Xavier paused and sent one thought into Tony's preoccupied head before leaving as well.

**'We need to talk, there are ****_things_**** concerning Mr. Hammer that you need to know, Anthony.'**

Tony nodded and then devoted all of his being to the weeping child in his arms. Vengeance would come later…

**0o0o0**

**TBC…**


	67. The Conclusion

**Disclaimer is in chapter one**

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_A/N This is the last chapter. Thanks to the (very few) people that reviewed and let me know if you enjoyed (or not) my little story. My stats at moment are 117 reviews, 122 favs and 193 follows...*sigh* We'll see whether or not I'll post the planned one-shot sequel on ff. net or keep it over on Ao3...(I'll write on here and let you know if I do post it or if it's on Ao3.) Getting too tired of no response from my readers to be honest..._

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**The Conclusion**

The room was almost oppressive in its silence. The two men sitting across each other simply sat unmoving and did their best to work through the heavy conversation they'd just had.

Tony was feeling more poleaxed than he ever had before. His insides twisting with a mixture of hurt, rage, disbelief and shocked fear and so many other things that he could barely keep track of it. The other man was Professor Xavier and he was trying to take in the younger man's thoughts without being overwhelmed by the torrent of emotions that came with them.

The Professor knew he was to blame for Tony's struggle, having revealed what he'd discovered inside little Darcy's troubled mind as he helped her back to the land of the living. Eyeing Tony speculatively, the Professor decided he was content with not having revealed _all_ that he'd found during his mental scanning of not only Darcy, but Mr. Barnes as well.

It took every bit of his long training to not show any signs of being affected by the flood of guilt and self-loathing that the brainwashed assassin had been discharging with every pained breath, completely uncaring about his own numerous injuries as his eyes remained trained on the comatose Stark heiress.

_Yes_, Xavier thought to himself, simultaneously reading a growing sense of determined hatred in the elder Stark as if he was preparing to plan something but knew not to do so in the mindreader's presence, _Tony shall never know from my lips what Darcy suffered through at Mr. Barnes' unwilling hands._

At long last, approximately half an hour after the Professor finished his revelations about Justin Hammer and his collaboration with Obadiah Stane, Tony blinked out of his head and refocused on the Professor's face. His eyes were deadly-looking and not for the first time did the Professor understand just how dangerous a man Anthony Stark had the possibility to become.

"Thank you for telling me this," Tony said, his voice flat and even and completely unlike him. "I'm gonna go sit with Darce for a bit. As you can probably imagine, I'm a little wary about not being near her right now. Our shrink is no doubt gonna have a field day trying to heal our codependency after this mess…Anyway, feel free to stay if you want but I guess you need to head back to your own kiddies for now."

The Professor nodded with a genial smile and said his goodbye verbally while letting Tony know mentally that he was only a phone call away should his services be needed to help Darcy cope with her issues later on.

Ten minutes later, Tony watched silently as the powerful mutant flew away as quickly and stealthily as he'd arrived. Then, feeling antsy, the billionaire turned to do as he said to the Professor, go spend some time with his daughter.

But first, Tony took out his StarkPad from his breast pocket and wrote a question to JARVIS, unwilling to risk being overheard. A few seconds later, he received a written reply with directions and Tony put the StarkPad away again with an eerie smile of anticipation on his face.

Before he went to see Darcy, he needed to take a little detour. _Besides, it's not like she can get much safer right now_, Tony thought hurrying along on his self-appointed quest, _JARVIS is keeping a look-out and Jamie's practically glued to her side and even though he's still more the Winter Soldier than not, he's already proved he won't let anyone but me or Pepper inside…_

Tony knew he'd forever treasure the memory of seeing the younger-looking male unceremoniously threaten bodily harm the one time Steve Rogers had attempted to gain entry to Darcy's hospital room.

**0o0o0**

Darcy was tired. No, in fact she was beyond exhausted. Even though she was hooked up to a massive amount of painkillers through an I.V. in her arm, Darcy could still feel the tender aches and twinges of pain throughout her body.

Her broken leg was now covered in a massive cast that was, she noticed with a small twitch of a smile, already covered in a small schematic that no doubt was some kind of version of a mini-suit her dad was getting ready to build to protect her. There were even a few other greetings scribbled on it from the people she cared about most in the world. They must have done it while she was…sleeping; Darcy realized and smiled fully at the thought. There was a kind and loving message from Pepper, a messy 'get well soon' from Happy, a little funny doodle and best wishes from Rhodey and even a tiny wish for a speedy recovery from Dr. Hulk of all people.

In fact, there was only one loved person missing that had yet to write on her cast and Darcy bit her bottom lip tentatively and glanced across the room where said person was sitting guard by the door. His face was expressionless despite all the bruises it carried. He was clearly avoiding any direct contact with her and on some level the teenage girl completely understood why, but…_still_…she kinda wanted her best friend to write something nice on her leg, was that so bad?

Taking the bull by the horns as was her habit, Darcy made her decision and cleared her throat in an effort to gain Jamie's attention.

The former assassin didn't react and then surprisingly flinched violently when she softly called out to him. In the end though, it seemed to become clear to him that Darcy wasn't giving up and he turned his head a fraction to look at her.

Jamie looked like he was a puppy expecting to get kicked in the face and Darcy's heart went out to him all over again even as scenes from what he'd done to her played on repeat inside her mind. Refusing to let the experience alter the way she saw Jamie, Darcy put on a kind smile and held out a pen that she'd found on the small table next to her bed.

"Wanna write something sassy that'll cheer me up when the itching gets too bad?"

The look Jamie sent her way was a mix between utter confusion, self-loathing and a minute hint of bewildered anger. "Are you out of your mind?" His voice was hoarse and she doubted that he'd used it all that much since their rescue from the warehouse.

Ignoring the teeny tiny part of her that felt a little nervous at the sight of his anger (she'd overcome that fear by ignoring it completely, she was a _Stark_!) Darcy shrugged with mock nonchalance. "Not any more than I usually am, no."

Jamie didn't reply, looking like he didn't know how to talk in the face of the complete avoidance of what he'd put her through. Darcy sighed and shook the pen enticingly in front of her to make him comply with her wishes.

"Come on, Jamie. I want the people I care about to write on my gorgeous leg here, it'll need to be complete or else it can't be a lifelong keepsake after all…"

The man looked like she'd gutted him more thoroughly than any instrument had ever done in his life, but before she could ask if he was feeling okay, Jamie practically exploded into movement.

From one blink to the next Jamie had jumped soundlessly to his feet and prowled over to her, looking like every step closer to her brought him genuine pain. "Why…?" he began lowly, sounding both pissed off and disbelieving at the same time, "_why_ do you persist in acting like nothing happened?"

It took every bit of strength she possessed, but Darcy didn't flinch or move away as the brainwashed soldier came closer. She couldn't keep her heart from thundering away nor could she control the sweat that began pouring off of her skin. Her breathing turned shallow and fast and it was those things that made the girl even more determined to overcome her instinctual fear of her friend.

"Because…" Darcy answered, and forced herself to straighten her spine in an attempt to show off her determination. Then she met Jamie's tortured gaze head on and, "I'm _not_ scared of you, Jamie. You're my best friend."

Judging from the scoff the dark-haired soldier sent her, he didn't believe her. He cemented it by stating that she wasn't a very good liar.

"Hush you," Darcy said, "I'm a _great_ liar, I'll have you know."

"Well, what you just said wasn't exactly the whole truth," Jamie pointed out and sat down at the vacant chair by her bedside in one quick graceful movement that Darcy wasn't prepared for and she startled a little before she could help it.

Jamie's face twisted with complete self-hatred and he looked like he wanted nothing more than to brain himself on the nearest hard surface. The guilt returned and practically oozed off his now immobile form.

"Don't," Darcy demanded quietly, "don't look like that. I'm sorry I can't quite control my body yet, but I meant what I said back there. I forgive you utterly and completely. None of it was your fault."

The look Jamie sent her was incredulous and bewildered. "I don't deserve your forgiveness," he finally said after a long while spent staring intently at her. "What I did is unforgivable and I wish I'd died in that fucking chair instead of letting the Winter Soldier return…I'm not right, Darcy. He's still there in the back of my mind prowling and waiting for the first sign of trouble to come out and fight."

Saddened by the confession, Darcy slowly reached out the hand that wasn't holding the pen and tenderly placed it on Jamie's scruffy cheek. "Good," she stated softly, but vehemently in the face of his blame, "I'm glad he's there openly now. Maybe in the future you'll merge and become one person again. You deserve nothing but peace."

Jamie tried to smile but didn't seem completely able to just yet. Instead, he placed his flesh hand on top of hers gently. "You sound like Steve. It's too late for me, Darce. I'll never be Bucky Barnes again."

Darcy swallowed a derisive snort at the mention of the Captain, vaguely recalling how he'd tried apologizing to her for somehow selling her out to Hammer or something when she'd barely been awake an hour. She also remembered how Jamie had unceremoniously thrown him out before he set more than one foot through the door.

"Good riddance," she settled on saying. "I never knew Bucky, and judging from what the Captain told me about him before he went crazy on me and from what I've read, I doubt I would've had that much in common with him in the first place. I know _Jamie_ though, and him I want around no matter what."

Silence grew after her last statement, and Darcy watched curiously as Jamie seemed to wilt under her hand. It was as if her words had been the benediction he'd unknowingly been waiting for his whole life. Silently she saw how his beautiful eyes filled with tears that overflowed down his face.

The rawness of his emotions was open for her to see and do with as she pleased and Darcy felt her own eyes burn with unshed tears at the sight of the wounded and abused man letting down all his walls in front of her. "I'm truly sorry," he whispered and took her hand in his to kiss softly. "I'll never harm you ever again. I so sorry…"

Time stood still as Jamie broke down in front of her and slowly accepted that despite all logical signs to the contrary, Darcy truly bore him no ill will and still wanted him in her life. Finally, the still extremely tired teenager reached out the hand with her pen toward Jamie's non biological arm. He'd been keeping it firmly away from her at all times and she knew she had to face her fear of the metallic limb to truly be able to face her unvoiced fears.

"I'm still waiting for some suitable cute note and or doodle," she announced when Jamie eyed her approaching hand like one probably eyed a rattle snake about to attack.

Jamie took a deep breath and eyed her seriously before ever so slowly taking the pen from her and carefully doing as she ordered. Before he finished, Darcy was fast asleep again, feeling satisfied knowing that her friend would still be by her side when she woke up.

When she woke up hours later without any hint of a nightmare for once, Darcy had to laugh when her dad teased her and the softly smiling Jamie, still sitting in the chair next to her bed, as she realized what he'd written on her cast.

_'BFF's 4-ever 3 J.' _

**0o0o0**

Tony was a lot of things to a lot of people. Usually, his personality was as visible and overpowering as a tsunami on steroids, but in that very moment, no one but JARVIS noticed him as he moved without sound or hurry toward his self-appointed destination.

Nobody, not even the nurses, doctors or other various people scurrying around in his tower, on the hospital floors, were inclined to even glance at the man, who walked as unassumingly as he knew how.

Having spent years after his daughter's kidnapping evading discovery from the public as he went to various unsavory places in an attempt to forget, Tony knew a _lot_ about not being seen when he didn't want to be.

Thusly, it didn't take long before he reached the hospital room he'd been searching for. Naturally, JARVIS' assistance was very much a factor in the speed of which he succeeded. It was also the A.I.'s superb hacking skills that made sure that the guard posted outside said room suddenly got a text from his wife stating an emergency. A moment later, no one was watching the door and all cameras had been overtaken by JARVIS, who made damn sure no one could even _hint_ at Tony being anywhere near the hospital room later on.

It was a necessary precaution that Tony knew he couldn't forget to take – Especially not with what he'd been planning to do and Darcy to protect.

With one last quick glance over his shoulder to make sure nobody saw him enter the room, Tony quietly did just that. Inside the room was the standard hospital-issued equipment and on the hospital bed laid the one person that Tony desperately needed to have a little _chat_ with.

"Good evening, Justin," Tony greeted the heavily bandaged man, half-way dozing on the bed. "Sorry to just barge in here unannounced, but to be honest, a lot of people have been keeping me away from you ever since Darcy woke up and I could think again...Of course, you shooting me in the back also delayed this little get together."

Since Tony knew he wasn't particularly a good man, he had no problems admitting to himself that he savored the sound of Justin's heart-monitor picking up speed as soon as the injured man heard his deceptively calm voice.

"T-Tony…" Hammer gurgled, barely able to speak clearly since it had only been mere hours since the medical personnel had extubated him as he was found to once again be able to breathe unassisted.

"Shh, don't overwork yourself," Tony soothed in a mock caring tone as he made his way to the foot of Hammer's bed. He eyed the devastation that his Baby-Girl's rage had caused.

Justin Hammer was no longer a handsome man. The few parts of his skin that wasn't hidden by healing bandages were cracked, oozing and irritated-looking. It looked like badly mended scarring that undoubtedly was very painful. His face was half visible, and only one eye seemed functional as the other one was milky white and unseeing.

To the vengeful father, Hammer had never looked better.

"Now," Tony grabbed one of the chairs over by the door and dragged it over next to the bed, letting it squeal obnoxiously on the linoleum floor. "I think it's time you answer some of my questions. Before you use your less than full strength I need to warn you that I've had a nice long and detailed talk with Charles Xavier before I came to find you."

Judging from the spike in Hammer's already faster than normal heart-rate, he knew very well who and more importantly, _what_ Charles Xavier was. Tony's answering smile was anything but kind.

"Nice to know that despite spending so much time dabbling with criminals and such, you still manage to keep up with current affairs and its notable personalities. Good for you. _Now_," Tony's tone turned deadly as did his previously so calm expression. "You're going to tell me why you and Stane decided to steal my kid and then I'm gonna need a _very_ thorough explanation on why instead of having her discreetly returned after your partner's untimely death you sold her like an _animal_.

Hammer seemed to shiver at the near tangible wrath that all but dispensed from the father.

"TALK!" Tony roared, leaning forward and not even noticing the sharp stab of pain in his injured back at the sudden movement.

"It…It was…" Hammer began haltingly, saliva spilling out of his drooping mouth in his eagerness to comply like the coward he was, "Stane's idea. He…You couldn't be fully controlled, he said…needed the g-girl's brains to mold in…in his image…He spent so much time trying to…to brainwash her into thinking she was his…"

Not entirely ready to talk so much after being intubated for days, Hammer started coughing wetly. He groaned at the pain it caused throughout his entire body. "P-please," he begged, not really expecting his life-long competitor to show any mercy and silently knowing that he didn't really deserve any.

Tony gestured mutely for him to continue and with a half sob, half sigh, Hammer did just that while sparing any attempts of making himself look better. He knew that it wouldn't be tolerated.

"S-Stane promised me a gre-great deal and future business projects if I helped him…When he died; I had no idea what to do with her…" Hammer blinked the tears he couldn't stop out of his eyes before finishing sadly, "She was too smart even back then…I knew that she'd somehow end up spilling everything and…I sold her so…so I didn't h-ha-have to deal with her. I'm sorry, Tony."

Without speaking or acknowledging Hammer's last comment, Tony slowly got to his feet. He looked like he'd aged a decade during Hammer's forced confession. After a couple of minutes where Tony just stood next to Hammer's bed and looked blankly down at the now weeping man, he started fiddling with the edges of Hammer's pillow.

"I want you to know," the billionaire engineer finally said tiredly, "that if I could get away with it and not cause some kind of time and space disaster, I'd build a time machine to go back and torture Obie every day for ten years. I'd do the same to you except I'd get the vilest men on my payroll so they could rape you day in and day out like they did to my little girl…"

Hammer's functional eye was widened with fear at the deadpan tone in the usually so animated man's voice. Then he listened with a sinking heart as Tony finished his point and wished he'd never set eyes on Obadiah Stane in the first place.

"Anyway, like I said, I can't build that machine right now so I have to settle for periodically pissing on that bastard's grave…and as for you…" Tony suddenly ripped the pillow beneath Hammer's head out from under him and unceremoniously placed it over his head, "I'll have to settle for _this_."

Minutes later, several machines exploded with warning sounds and beeps, which caused numerous doctors and nurses to come running to Justin Hammer's hospital room only to find that it was already too late for them to do anything.

As the doctors tried resuscitating him in vain, an elevator opened unnoticed on the next floor up, emitting a darkly smiling Tony Stark on his way to his daughter's bedside.

JARVIS quietly erased any and all evidence of his creator ever having been gone in the first place…just in case.

**0o0o0**

"Come on, Professor; don't tell me you can actually understand the thoughts of the animals?" One lanky teenage boy with purple hair asked Xavier as they walked together in front of Darcy and watched the zoo's animals in all their glory.

Darcy bit back a smile, knowing the Professor enough to know when he was teasing and turned her attention back on her surroundings.

It had been several months since she'd been released from her last hospital stay and though it had taken a lot of time and effort with her usual shrink coupled with a lot of intense conversation with her dad and the Professor to process what she'd been through, Darcy was finally able to relax enough to start living her life like a relatively normal kid.

A kid, whose dad was Iron Man and busy setting up a more functional Avengers Initiative where – among others – Captain America no longer reigned supreme. The Avengers were slowly becoming a democracy with several new members that Darcy hadn't even met all of yet.

Smiling at the memory of her first meeting with Spiderman and their subsequent talk about the intricacies of Biotechnology, Darcy looked around at her schoolmates, who'd been invited along by her dad to celebrate her fourteenth birthday in style. He'd thrown money around and gotten the zoo closed for the day so they could all walk around uninhibited and without having to disguise those friends of hers, whose mutation was more visible than hers.

Walking slightly behind her was Jamie. Even though he too had been offered a full time place on the Avengers team, he'd declined so he could spend his days protecting Darcy. Some days, the Winter Soldier's abilities were needed and he did join the team but it never lasted long despite the Captain's fiercest tries to make it stick.

Darcy glanced behind her to smile at her best friend. She had to fight down an annoying blush when he noticed her and returned her greeting with a small smile of his own. She loved getting older, but it was so frustrating having to deal with hormones, Darcy decided.

Sighing a little forlornly, Darcy turned her focus back to the person she loved the most in the world and who was walking gaily next to her, holding her hand tightly in his no matter how immature it might make her seem to her friends.

Darcy smirked and tightened her grip on her dad's hand. She honestly didn't care if it made them look silly to be holding hands at her age. She'd take advantage of Tony's need for touch as long as he'd let her.

Having felt her grip tighten, Tony looked down at her with a truly beaming grin on his face that made him look twenty years younger. "What's up, Baby-Girl? Not having fun? I can have the jet fueled in thirty minutes and then we're off to Disneyland."

"No, no, Dad," Darcy stopped to randomly throw her arms around Tony in a fierce hug, "this is everything I ever wanted. This is perfect. Thanks. Not just for this, but for loving me like you do and having patience with my mood swings and all that. "

There was a reason that Tony Stark was no longer as big of a mess as he used to be. His work with the Avengers as Iron Man, his stabile long-term relationship with Pepper Potts, his world renowned work in the clean energy field…

Looking down into the dark eyes that his kid had inherited from him, the actual reason really wasn't that hard to guess.

Tony tenderly placed a lock of Darcy's wayward hair behind her ear. "Honestly, Baby-Girl. Loving you is the pleasure of my life."

Darcy Maria Lewis-Stark did the only thing she could after hearing that; she smiled and hugged her dad closely one more time.

**0o0o0**

**THE END…**


End file.
